Prelude to Destiny
by WingsCutDarkness
Summary: (Previously published as "Spirit Tracks Remix") When a young girl inexplicably finds herself in the middle of a story world, it's up to Link and Zelda to help her find a way home, while at the same time trying to stop the evil Demon King and save Hyrule!
1. Chapter One

**Author's Note: A few years ago, I took down all my stories after a pile of negative interactions with the fanfiction community. This story was originally published as "Spirit Tracks Remix" in 2011, and I recently decided to republish it with a few edits now that I have a pretty solid idea of where I want this story and its current "sequel" (Prisoner of Destiny) to go.**

 **I was about 13 years old when I wrote this story, and as I read through it, the writing certainly reflects that. I've decided not to make too many heavy edits and try to preserve that slightly "childish" writing style because I think it does a good job of reflecting the character's young age as well. I like to think of it as a prequel, which paves the way towards an endgame idea I have for these stories and characters.**

 **As always, thank you for reading, and please drop a comment, or constructive criticism if you feel the urge. I love to hear what readers think, and value all your thoughts!**

* * *

If you were to ask me, I really wouldn't be able to tell you how it happened. All I remember is having some free time and being bored. Usually whenever I'm bored, I was allowed to pull out a story tablet, one of the ones with the moving pictures and sounds, and parts where you could pretend to be the hero. Those stories were my favorite, much more fun than reading the words of a story in one of the boring old books, or scrolls. Although I wasn't supposed to use the story tablets without my mother around because they were very hard to come across, and my mother would be furious if something happened to them. But she was gone for a few days, and all the chores she had left me with and everything else was done. There was just nothing to do!

I tried not to feel guilty as I went into the locked chest, using the key my mother kept hidden inside one of the scrolls on the shelf. Now I had a choice to make, because there were a few special stories to choose from.

There was the tablet with a pretty pattern on the back like a crying eyeball, but my mother never let me touch that one. She said it was special, and that I needed to wait until I was older to hear that story. I was already opening the story chest without her permission, and I didn't want her to be angrier, so I left the special tablet alone. There was also the story with the tower and the two children my age, but that one I had opened the most. That left the one with the pretty birds and the floating island, but the villain was pretty scary in that one too. The first time I had opened that story, I had nightmares for weeks about his creepy laugh and his evil eyes.

I hurriedly put that one back and picked up the story about the tower, carefully placing it on the floor beside me while I locked the chest back up and strained to push it back under the bed. Feeling the familiar feeling of excitement as I jumped (carefully!) onto the bed my mother and I shared, I settled back against the headboard, pulled a blanket around my shoulders to keep out the cold, and powered the tablet on. I yawned as I waited for the familiar beginning of the story to appear on the screen. It seemed to be taking a while today. Maybe the story tablets felt the cold too, and needed more time to warm up.

I hadn't thought I was sleepy at all, but for some reason I was having a lot of trouble keeping my head up. Stifling a yawn, I nestled myself under the blanket and propped myself up with a pillow so I'd be able to see when the tablet started playing the story.

I must have closed my eyes, because the next thing I knew, I was being poked in the arm. I mumbled sleepily, and drew an arm over my head. "Hey kid! Hey you! HEY!"

My eyes flew open in alarm as I scrambled to my feet. A bright, blue light seemed to be shining all around me, but rapidly faded away. As my vision cleared, what I saw was not what I had been expecting, and I gasped out loud.

I was standing in the middle of a stone floor, in a room with colorful tapestries hanging on the walls. Humongous pillars with weird symbols carved into them reached way up towards the domed ceiling, where a stained-glass window sparkled. I stared at it all, not entirely sure where I was, or what I was seeing.

"Where did you come from, kid?" A voice to my side said. I turned and stared up at a man wearing...armor? "I have strict orders to report any strange business around the castle." The guard continued. "But you look like you're just a kid, so I guess I'll let you go this time. Just stay out of trouble."

"Are you a guard?" I asked, my voice sounding small. "Is this...Hyrule?"

"Of course. Where else would we be?" The guard stared at me a bit suspiciously

I blinked, and suddenly remembered I had been laying in bed with the story tablet. I must have fallen asleep; I had been feeling pretty tired. That must be what was happening. A dream! I was actually dreaming that I was part of the story! I felt myself began to smile. This was the best dream I could possibly ask for!

"Did the ceremony happen already?" I asked the guard eagerly. "For the trains?" Maybe I would be able to see it happen in person. Before I woke up, hopefully!

"No, but the procedures should be commencing shortly." The guard sighed, tilting his head head a bit to look down at me. "Are you here for the ceremony?" He asked as a blonde kid in an engineer outfit walked up to stand beside me. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as I gaped at the other kid. It was him, it was Link! The hero with the train!

"Excuse me, which way to the Engineer Ceremony?" The boy asked.

The guard started to reply, but straightened up and saluted instead. "Chancellor Cole! Sir!" The guard said smartly, lowering his salute. An important-looking man stood in front of us and despite his small stature clearly made the guard nervous. He was wearing a bright green suit and two small top hats balanced on either side of his head. His hair and mustache were both a vibrant orange.

I clapped my hand over my mouth to hide a giggle. Chancellor Cole looked even more silly in person. "He looks like a leprechaun!" I whispered to myself.

"What's a leprechaun?" The hero asked, one eyebrow raised in confusion. I couldn't hold it in any more. I mean, "What's a leprechaun?" Who doesn't know what a leprechaun is? The Chancellor, who'd ignored the two of us until now, turned his attention to me as my laughter echoed off the walls.

"How dare you? Who are these ill-mannered children, hmm?"

"My name is Mia." I informed him. "And I'm not a kid! I'm almost old enough to do all of the chores by myself."

"And I think I might be late for the ceremony," The hero added.

Chancellor Cole hesitated as we stood there, hoping to get past, and stared at us with beady black eyes. Finally, he grumbled something about trains and frowned at a messy looking paper badge Link wore pinned to his black engineer's tunic.

"As unfortunate as it is, these two urchins do need to get past. Princess Zelda insisting on performing those ridiculous little ceremonies and all."

The guard saluted and stepped aside. I smiled at him as we walked past.

"Are you here to watch the ceremony?" Link asked as we walked down a heavily carpeted hallway and through two big doors.

"Yeah! I mean, I am allowed, right?"

"Of course! Everyone is allowed to come." He grinned. "You said your name was Mia, right? What realm are you from? I've never seen you around the castle before."

That was sort of weird. Usually people I met in dreams didn't ask me where I was from. "Um..." I fidgeted with my hands. "Well, I'm just visiting."

"Quiet, peasants!" The Chancellor hissed from behind us. I jumped in surprise, not realizing that he had been followed us. When I half turned around, I saw him exposing a mouthful of sharp, pointed teeth. Yikes! That reminded me of something.

I turned forward again and whispered to Link, just in case I woke up before the scary stuff with Cole and Byrne happened, "Watch out for him. He's definitely going to be the bad guy."

"Huh?" Link stared blankly at me as we walked up a few steps towards a fancy throne with two doors on either side of it and guards stationed all around.

"Be quiet!" Cole spat, and poked me with one of his pointy fingernails. "You are clearly no engineer and you're lucky I didn't have you thrown out right when I first saw you."

I cringed as a strange feeling of fear ran up my spine. I knew it was silly to be scared, because this was just a dream and dreams couldn't hurt me, but Cole was really creeping me out. I was starting to feel like he could hurt me if he wanted to.

A fanfare of trumpets went off, and Link went up ahead and knelt front of the throne, his head bowed. The chancellor turned and walked rapidly over to the wall on the right side of the throne, taking his position between two guards. The look in his eyes as he stared at me made the feeling of fear stronger. But I was quickly distracted from Cole as one of the doors beside the throne opened and a girl walked in. She was wearing a pink dress and her blonde hair fell neatly down her back. I covered my mouth with my hands to muffle a exclamation of excitement. It was really Princess Zelda, standing right there!

I watched the rest of the ceremony, barely able to contain my excitement. It was amazing to feel like I was standing there, and actually a part of it! After Link had become an official engineer and received his parchment from the princess, I stared hard at the two of them, watching for what came next. Sure enough, the princess slipped something else into Link's hand, then turned and walked out of the room, followed closely by mostly all the guards.

I sighed in disappointment, realizing I hadn't had a chance to talk with her. Loud, clicking footsteps caught my attention, and I noticed that the Chancellor had left his spot and was stalking directly towards me. I gulped, a bit confused as to why he looked so mad. I felt like it would be bad to hang around, so I turned and slipped myself into the crowd of people leaving the room. I was jostled a lot, but made it outside of the throne room before Cole. Struggling to get out of the crowd, I ducked behind one of the large pillars I had seen earlier, and nervously waited, my heart pounding loudly in my ears. It's just a dream. Dreams can't hurt me, I reminded myself, trying to figure out why I felt so scared. Could the Chancellor in this dream possibly know that I knew what was going to happen, and was worried I would do something to try and stop it?

Footsteps came closer and I squeezed my eyes shut. My breath whooshed out of my lungs once he passed by my hiding spot, barely missing me. A few seconds later, I inched out from behind the pillar, looked down the hallway, and realized that it was Link who actually had passed me and not the Chancellor. I felt a rush of relief, and ran after him.

"Look!" He proudly held up his certificate. "I'm an engineer now!"

"That's really great!" I beamed. "What else did Princess Zelda give you?" Link frowned, then obviously decided to trust me.

"Just a letter. It said that she wanted me to meet her in her room and she had a favor to ask me. Oh, and to look out for the Chancellor. She gave me this map," He showed me a piece of paper with directions on it.

"Can I come with you?"

"Oh. Why?"

"Because..." I started, then stopped, not knowing what to say. "I just really want to meet her. And I have…something important to tell her. Something about Cole." I added.

"You have something to tell her about the Chancellor?" Link's eyes widened a bit.

"Yes, it's very important." I nodded, deciding that I would try to warn them of what was going to happen. "All of Hyrule is in danger!"

"Well then, we better hurry." Link stared at me for a moment, then started heading down a hallway I hadn't noticed before. We had started walking down a narrow, dim, and dusty-smelling passageway, when Link stopped in front of a wooden door and turned to face me. "Do you think the Chancellor is bad?"

"Yes! He's up to no good." I shuddered, remembering what happens next in the story.

"Really?" Link asked over his shoulder, as he eased open the door.

"I know that it probably seems too early to tell." I whispered as we tiptoed to another door right across from the one we had come out of. "But you have to believe me. He's really dangerous!"

Link cautiously turned the doorknob, and we stepped into a bright room. The sound of something like a flute being played floated through the air. The music was coming from the princess, who was standing with her back to us and playing a pan flute with green tassels.

Link brushed past me and stepped further into the room. "Princess Zelda?"

"I'm so glad you could make it." Zelda put her flute down in a holder and turned to face us. "I-Link...I thought I told you to come alone."

"Her name is Mia. She told me she had something important to tell you and that Hyrule is in danger, so she came with me to see you." Link explained.

"Is that so?" Zelda stared at me, her gaze flickering from my clothes, up to to my face, to my ears.

"I know I'm just in a dream, but I know about what's going to happen and I wanted to warn you!"

"You...believe you are in a dream?" Zelda blinked, her head tilting slightly to the side.

"I've watched your story so many times. This is the first time I'm dreaming about it, but I know what happens. I know that Cole will betray the kingdom, and try to overtake it." I told her in a rush. "He's probably attacking the Tower of Spirits right now."

"You have seen our...story?" Zelda repeated thoughtfully. "And the tower? The reason I asked Link here was to see if he would take me to the tower on his train. I've heard stories of a sage who lives there, and I want to talk to her and see if she knows what's going on with the tracks that connect at the tower."

"Alfonzo and I noticed the tracks disappearing lately too." Link added. "They have been disappearing everywhere."

"It's because Cole is trying to find a way to get rid of all the tracks for good." I told him. "But maybe we can stop him before it's too late!"

"Yes, that is what I was hoping for." Zelda continued. "The problem is, Chancellor Cole doesn't let me out of the castle normally. I'm pretty sure he just wants to keep me away from the tower."

Link asked, "How are you going to get out without any of the guards noticing? Their main duty is protecting you, after all."

Zelda pointed at a stack of green clothes folded on the floor. "With those, you can pretend you're a recruit; you should be able to walk around without any of the guards noticing you. If you can find some way of distracting them, Mia and I can sneak past. You will travel with us to the tower, Mia?"

"I wouldn't miss it for anything!" I felt my face nearly crack, that's how big I was smiling.

 _Please, please don't let me wake up anytime soon!_


	2. Chapter Two

After sprinting like crazy and getting dirt stains on our clothes from kneeling behind walls, Zelda and I finally made it out of the castle and past the courtyard.

"We made it!" Zelda panted, nearly bent over with her hands on her knees, as I leaned against the castle gate to catch my breath. Link met us there a moment later.

"Come on, we'd better get out of here before the guards find out Zelda is gone, and that they were tricked so easily!" Laughing, he began to run down the path leading towards the town. Zelda and I glanced at each other, then began to run after him, a bit of laughter escaping ourselves.

As we ran down the streets, in between colorful shops and houses, I couldn't stop from gaping at my surroundings. Castle Town was a lot larger than I thought it would be, and there were a lot more people than I imagined. Even the fountain gleaming in the middle of the plaza was a lot bigger and more detailed. I had never seen anything like it before. The story tablets I had were about as interactive as a story could get, but it was nothing compared to being right in the middle of it all.

My attention was held by the plumes of water that sprayed up and sparkled as they caught the sun, before I heard someone call my name. I tore my gaze away from the beautiful fountain and ran to catch up to Link and Zelda, who were standing near what must have been the train station, a wooden platform beside some tracks.

"Is that your train?" I asked Link, just to make sure. The wooden train was a lot bigger up close.

"Yep!" Link jumped up the platform ahead of us, and went over to open the door to the passenger car.

"Link, what took so long?" Said someone from inside. "I've been waiting forever!"

"I'm sorry Alfonzo! After the ceremony, I met with the princess." Link stepped aside to let us enter. "She asked us to take her to the Tower of Spirits. It's very important."

"Your Highness!" Alfonzo said, sounding surprised as Zelda and I filed into the train car, which was exactly how it looked in the story pictures. Staring at the benches, and the pretty wood covering the walls and room, I slowly sat down in a seat across the aisle from Alfonzo, Link's engineer mentor. I was trying hard not to stare at him as an awful feeling made my chest tighten. In the story, I knew Alfonzo got hurt pretty badly. _But maybe it would be different this time, and things wouldn't happen how they were supposed to,_ I thought to myself.

"Mia had some important stuff to tell Zelda, and she's coming to the tower too." Link called over his shoulder as he hopped out of the train car.

"Well, it's not every day you get royalty asking for a lift. Alright then, Princess, Mia. Make yourselves comfortable. It shouldn't be a long ride to the tower." Alfonzo did a short bow in seat as Zelda sat beside me on the bench.

"Please Alfonzo, no need for formalities." Zelda smiled and smoothed down the skirt of her dress.

"Alright your Highness. Pleased to make your acquaintance." Alfonzo stuck his hand out to me. I shook it formally and giggled.

"Okay, everything's set. We'll be there in a flash!" Link called through the doorway before slamming the door shut. I saw him walk to the front of the train through the windows. A few seconds later, the engine roared to life and with a jerk, we started moving. Feeling my eyes stretch wide, I glued myself to the window and watched the scenery slide past us. I never imagined riding on a train would be so amazing!

"Say, Princess, Mia, did you two know that I used to be a famous swordsman?" Alfonzo was gesturing to the sword laying on the seat beside him.

"Of course! My father often speaks of the loyalty of your family throughout the generations." Zelda exclaimed. "You come from a long line of great swordsman, do you not?"

"Did you ever fight any monsters?" I asked, looking away from the window. Just then the train pitched violently to one side, sending the three of us flying. We skidded sideways for a few seconds before the train stopped moving. I groaned and pushed myself off the floor as Zelda shakily stood up.

"Something must have happened to Link!" She gasped, and started toward the carriage door with shaky steps.

"Your Highness, wait!" Alfonzo leapt forward. "Allow me to go first." He pulled the door open and jumped out, holding out a hand to help Zelda make the big step to the ground. We wandered to the front of the train, and Zelda gasped. Link was lying on the ground, with little pieces of broken machinery covering the grass all around him. The train was smoking, and looked pretty damaged.

"Alfonzo! The tracks! They just disappeared again!" Link wasn't wrong. Where there had once been tracks leading from the castle towards the tower in the distance, there was just grass. Nothing to indicate that tracks had ever been there.

"Mia, you were right!" Zelda sounded very distressed. "Something is terribly wrong, look at the Tower of Spirits!"

Dark tendrils of smoke slowly were spiralling in the distance. The smoke seemed to be coming from a cloud of darkness that swirled directly above the tower and rapidly grew larger, electricity sparking across the middle. A blue wave of electricity shot out of the cloud and down the sides of the tower, splitting it into four pieces. The pieces of tower began spinning slowly, hanging suspended in the air by some strange force. All that was left on the ground was the base. We all stared up in horror at the huge tower parts.

"We...we're too late." I whispered, feeling frightened.

"Your Highness! Look over there!" Alfonzo was pointing to the left of the tower, where another dark cloud was forming. With no warning, something monstrous roared out of the cloud, heading straight at us. "Get down!" Alfonzo grabbed the Princess, shielding her with his massive body. Link and I dropped to the ground and covered our heads as a strong gust of wind whipped the air around us. We were pelted with a shower of grit as the creepy train flew over our heads and disappeared into the distance.

"Wh-what was that?" Zelda looked frightened, peering up at the sky.

"Did that train have a...face?" Link asked, getting up off of the ground. He was covered in dust.

"The Demon Train." I whispered again.

"Out for a leisurely stroll, your highness? You know that's not allowed!"

"Not allowed by who? You, Chancellor Cole?" Zelda said defiantly, stepping out from behind Alfonzo. The chancellor had walked up, appearing out of nowhere.

"That's right! Me! The one who's really in charge!" He cried as his hats spontaneously flew off his head to reveal lopsided horns. "It's so tiring to pretend to be human all the time. I had meant to keep up the ruse for a little longer, but you pushed me to this. You children, and your infernal meddling! But now that those vile train tracks are gone, all we need is you, your Highness!" Cole turned to Princess Zelda with creepy look on his face.

"Alfonzo," I rushed up to him and pulled on his hand. "Alfonzo, you have to stop him. Before he gets Zelda!"

"Nobody is going to hurt Zelda," Alfonzo said grimly, drawing his sword and stepping in front of Zelda. "I don't know who these guys are, your highness, but they are obviously bad news. With your permission, I'd be happy to take care of them." He carved a few double-handed strokes with his sword, and Chancellor Cole gave another creepy giggle as he floated up into the air.

"Melodrama is so incredibly boring. Byrne, would you please dispose of this fool?"

"This man speaks the truth, Cole. His moments are not those of an amateur." Another figure I immediately recognized as Byrne, walked out from behind the train. From what I could see of him, he was tall, had a dark ponytail, and a green scarf covering the lower part of his face. What caught my attention the most was a metal gauntlet on the end of his left arm. He looked about ten times more threatening than Cole, and a lot scarier than he had looked in the story. "But, he is only human."

The two began to circle each other. Alfonzo suddenly struck out with a blow aimed at Byrne's head. Byrne blocked the attack, but Alfonzo pressed forward, raining a flurry of strikes down on his opponent. Each time, Byrne blocked them with his gauntlet, metal meeting metal with a clang that rang in my ears. I cringed each time Alfonzo was almost too late to block Byrne's attacks. Then, their weapons locked together. "I told you, I will protect the princess at any cost!"

"And I told you. You're only human." Byrne said cooly, and shoved Alfonzo slightly downwards.

They broke away from each other and spun back around. Byrne charged, and Alfonzo raised his sword in a defensive position. I noticed Byrne's metal hand start glowing with an ominous purple light, and opened my mouth to warn Alfonzo, but I was too late.

Alfonzo flew backwards into the passenger car and slumped to the ground, little flickers of electricity sparking all over his body. I stared at him in horror. Beside me, Zelda screamed.

Laughing, Cole danced in the air around Byrne's head. "Excellent work Byrne! You do know how to put on a show!"

"It wasn't a fair fight, Cole." Byrne replied, then started walking towards Zelda.

"Help me Link!" Zelda stood frozen as Byrne moved closer.

Link immediately threw himself in front of her. Byrne took one look at Link and swatted him out of the way with his arm. I gasped as Link flew through the air, just like Alfonzo had earlier. He landed hard on the packed ground, and gave a squeak of pain, while Byrne continued towards Zelda.

"Link!" Zelda cried, clutching at me in fear. I was shaking. Suddenly, I wanted to wake up from this dream. I wanted to wake up from it now, as Chancellor Cole rose in the air, holding two crackling orbs of energy in his hands. He fired the orbs, and Zelda jumped out of the way, dragging me behind her, but we didn't move fast enough.

"Ahh!" Zelda let go of my arm and crumpled to the ground, becoming deathly still.

I stared at motionless body, my eyes wide. She looked dead.

"Pesky brat!" Cole hissed.

I looked up, just as Byrne stormed over and grabbed me around my middle. "Ahh! Let me go!" I squirmed and kicked, tried to hit him, but I couldn't reach. He regarded me for a minute, then dropped me on the ground. I tried not to scream as his shadow fell over me, and stared as his hand started glowing with electrical power.

"No!" I shrieked, holding my hands in front of my face as a bolt of power shot toward me. I clenched my teeth and braced for the searing pain...which never came. Instead, the electricity somehow dissipated the moment it came into contact with my skin. All I felt was a warm tingling.

Byrne took a step backwards slightly, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Wh-what…?" I breathed, then realized I should probably be knocked out like the others. I immediately flopped over on the ground, trying to act dead. I couldn't keep from trembling as I wondered if they would see through my ruse. But Cole seemed to buy it.

"Good work Byrne. You have no idea how much trouble those pests have given me. Now grab the princess and let's get out of here." I heard Cole say gleefully. Even though I was pretty sure Byrne knew his dark power hadn't hurt me, he left me alone.

I cracked one eye open and saw the two of them walking towards a distant forest, taking Zelda with them. I waited until I was sure they were gone before daring to sit up. Link was lying on the ground with his limbs splayed out. I crawled over to him. "Link! Link, wake up!" No response. "Link!"

I made a fist and struck the ground, tears of fear and confusion welling up in my eyes. The moment my fist hit the ground, a reaction of some sort was triggered. I stared as electricity danced across my palm, and my skin began to light up from the inside. My hand began to glow bright blue. I blinked away the spots in my vision and gasped for air, feeling more than a little freaked out. "W-what is happening?"

There appeared to be some sort of symbol on the back of my left hand; a swirly, spirally sort of thing that was blurred through my tears. It was pulsing, and growing, stretching to cover more of my hand. I forced myself to stay calm. "It's just a dream." I whispered, closing my eyes. "It's just a story, it's not real." When I opened my eyes and stared at my hand, the symbol was gone. My hand was completely blank. A dizzy feeling overcame me, and my vision began to grow dim. The last thing I heard was someone shouting something and footsteps pounding on the grass.


	3. Chapter Three

When I woke up, I did not find myself not at home, but instead lying in a small bed and staring up at an old man with white hair and glasses. I startled a little in surprise; I never had a dream where I've fell asleep and woken up still in the dreamworld.

The man jumped and looked down at me disapprovingly. "I drag you all the way back to the castle, and this is how you show your gratitude?" I glanced around. Link and Alfonzo were lying asleep on beds beside me.

"Oh..." I nodded at Alfonzo, who had a nasty-looking bruise on his temple. "Is he okay?"

The old man adjusted his glasses and nodded. "He will be fine."

"Link?" I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and hurried over, shaking his shoulder. "Link? Wake up!"

"Mia? What-" His eyes came into focus and he sat upright suddenly. "What happened to the princess? Did you save her?"

"Cole and Byrne took her."

The professor guy looked distressed. "What are you saying? The princess is not in the castle?"

I shook my head and waited impatiently for Link to pull his boots on. "This really weird thing happened to me, too. Byrne tried to kill me with his power. But I think...I think I somehow…absorbed it instead."

Link stood up and straightened his tunic. "What do you mean?"

"Well...I didn't get hurt, and my hand… it was glowing and had a weird symbol on it." I showed my hand to Link.

"I don't see anything."

"I-I know. It was only there for a second. I...I don't know what it means. I think we should go talk to the sage." I told him, pushing past the professor and heading towards the door.

"I'll come with you." Link said. "Two of us would have a better chance of saving Zelda."

We left the room and stopped. A small ball of white light was floating in the air. It looked like a fairy without wings. Unexpectedly, the ball grew outwards, and a transparent figure appeared in front of a guard standing there. "Hello? Can you hear me? I need your help!"

Link gasped. "Is that...Princess Zelda?"

"Why can't anybody hear me?" Zelda said softly, then floated right through the guard and into the throne room.

"We should follow her!" The guard in front of the throne room glanced at Link's green tunic and let us through, and we followed Zelda through one of the doors beside the throne. "I hope she's alright..." Link said as we crept through a short passageway to Zelda's room and slipped inside.

The ghostly version of Zelda was floating in the middle of the room and turned around when she heard us come in. "Can...can you see me?" Her voice wavered.

We nodded.

"What happened to me? Why am I like this?" Zelda floated up to the ceiling and flew around in a circle a few times.

"I don't know...but Cole has your body." I told her. "He and that Byrne guy took it."

Zelda looked horrified. "They took my body?"

"We should go to that tower you were talking about!" I suggested. "The sage will be able to help you. And maybe she'll know what happened to me, too."

"But how? My train is broken and the tracks are gone!" Link pointed out.

"Do you still have that map I gave you?" Zelda asked. Link reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper, holding it so Zelda could see it. I leaned in closer so I could see what she was doing. "There is a back entrance here," She said, pointing somewhere on the map. "Maybe we can sneak out the back, and walk to the tower."

"There's probably someone is guarding that door, right?" I asked, remembering the detour the hero and princess were forced to take in the story. "Don't you think you should get a sword before we go, Link? The guard probably won't let you by without one. And plus, there might be monsters on the way to the tower."

"It would probably be smart to take safety precautions," Zelda agreed.

I brightened. "Yeah! And that way, if we run into Cole and Byrne again, Link can get back at them!"

Link didn't look so sure. "Do you know where I could get a sword, Zelda?"

"I suppose the Captain of the Guard has some spares. He's usually in the training room." She answered. "C'mon, let's go." She floated towards the door and we started following her. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She turned and flew right through us, to back where her flute was sitting in its stand. "This flute has been passed down through our family for generations." Zelda said. "I think it is meant to protect me, but I can't carry it in this state, so I want to give it to you. Link? Will you take it with you?

* * *

After Link managed to borrow a sword from the captain guy, we finally made it through the castle and to the back door.

"Sorry kids. I can't let you pass with at least one sword between ya!" The guard on duty said. "Oh wait!" He suddenly noticed. "I see you've got yourself a sword!"

Link nodded. "So that means we can pass, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." The guard stepped aside and pushed open the door. Grinning, Link and I walked out into the sunlight, and Zelda floated a little down the grassy path that led away from the castle.

"Let's go find the sage." She said. "I'll go ahead, okay?" She streaked away as Link and I walked up to an opening in the middle of a wall of rock. A sticky strand of spider web brushed against my face as we stepped into the dark tunnel, and I shuddered, little goosebumps pricking up on my arm. It was completely dark and musty in there. "Link? Zelda?" I called as I cautiously inched my way through the darkness. My voice echoed back to me. "L-Link? Z-zelda?"

"It's so dark in here!" Link exclaimed, from ahead of me. "But I think I see light this way. We're almost there!" Miraculously, we found an exit and stumbled into the sunlight again, very close to the Tower of Spirits.


	4. Chapter Four

Zelda was waiting for us once we caught up to her at the tower. "Look at this place! Isn't it amazing?" She asked, sitting up on a large stone statue of a train.

Surprisingly, the inside of the tower looked neat and tidy, considering the state that the top parts were in. There were stone maps hanging on the walls of the round, immense room. I stared around, amazed again that I was actually standing there.

"You know, my dear, this is a very important slab of stone. You might not want to be sitting on it. Even though you're a ghost, it is so old that it could crack under any amount of weight."

"What?!" Zelda gasped. "Who said that?"

"I do not mean to offend. All I meant was that the train is important. It is, in fact the Spirit Train." A small, wise-looking, elderly person in a little chair on wheels came out of the shadow of the statue. She had kind eyes and most shockingly, a tower of pink hair that curled at the top. "My name is Anjean. I am the sage who dwells in this tower." She introduced herself, then stared up at Zelda. "Whatever happened to you my dear?"

"The Chancellor attacked us." Zelda said, floating off of the statue and down to our level.

"There was another guy there, Byrne, who tried to kill me. But his power didn't work, and...my hand started glowing." Anjean peered down at my hand and for a fraction of a second, I thought I saw a strange flicker in her eyes.

"Glowing, you say?"

"Yes, and there was a strange symbol too. But...it disappeared. But I know it was there. I saw it."

"Hmm… most peculiar." Anjean murmured, continuing to study my hand. I wonder if she saw something there I didn't.

"Well, whatever happened to you and saved you from getting hurt, I'm glad it did!" Zelda exclaimed, then turned to the sage. "We need your help, Anjean!"

Anjean tore her gaze away from my hand and studied Zelda. "Hmm, yes. Tell me, do you know the story of this tower?"

"Only what I have heard in the folktales..." Zelda said hesitantly. "A long time ago, the spirits of good and the Demon King were embroiled on a never-ending war. In the end, the spirits could not defeat him, so they trapped him in this tower."

"It is not chains or bars that keep him imprisoned, but an energy that flows between the tower and the four temples that surround it." Anjean continued Zelda's story.

"Oh, of course! Then the Spirit Tracks..." Link trailed off.

"Correct, my dear. The Spirit Tracks carry that energy. If the tracks are lost, then the tower's energy will fade. And so will the Demon King's prison. I believe that is just what that evil pair you spoke of are up to. They want to resurrect Malladus, the Demon King." Anjean became silent for a moment, then resumed. "Of course, in order to resurrect Malladus, they need a vessel from the royal line of ancient Hyrule." She pointed to Zelda. "But...only your shell, my dear. It would be the only vessel that he would be able to inhabit."

The brief silence that followed Anjean's words was broken as Zelda shrieked. "The Demon King is going to inhabit my body? That's too disgusting for words! We HAVE to stop them! We can't let that Demon King return!"

"My thoughts exactly." Anjean said calmly. "At the top of this tower is your body. And also, the Demon King's spirit. To stop him from taking your body, you must rebuild and fortify his prison. To do this, restore the tracks between the temples and this tower."

"But how do we bring back the Spirit Tracks?" Link asked.

"You must re-energize the rail maps." Anjean turned, pointing at the wall where stone maps were hanging. "As you know, the tower is currently filled with evil energy. But if you seek out the four sages, they will each be able to help restore the tracks leading to the temples. The first sage is a Lokomo known as Gage. He dwells in the forest realm, so that is the map you will want to take first."

"Of course. Thank you Anjean." Zelda said briefly, then spun back to us. "Link, the kingdom is counting on us. We must find the sages and restore the temples. Mia, will you continue to travel with us?"

I hesitated, not sure if I had any choice.

Zelda stared at me, then spoke to Anjean softly. "Mia knew of Cole's treachery, and of his intentions to overtake the kingdom. She says she has heard our story before, and...and believes she dreams her experiences now."

"In that case," Anjean rolled her way over, and placed an aged hand on my shoulder. "Mia, is it? You should go with Link and Zelda. I sense that what you call a dream will not end until the great evil is sealed."

"But what about-" I started, then clamped my mouth shut as Anjean's gaze flickered down to my hand, then back up to my eyes. "So… I will journey with them for the extent of the story? And when we fix the tower, the dream will be over?"

"Yes, it is very likely." Well, I guess that was that.

"What are we waiting for? We need to find the forest Lokomo!" Link called from the wall, where four stone map pieces were hanging a few inches apart from each other.

"But how are we going to get there without a train? Or tracks to the forest?" Zelda asked while I walked over to the maps, and fingered the rough, worn texture of the stone, helping Link looking for the one with the most trees.

"You may take this." Anjean replied as I carefully unhooked what I assumed was the forest map. For such a thick slab of rock, it was surprisingly light. I tucked the map under one arm and turned around to see Anjean raise her arms in the air and a golden ray of light shine down on the train statue. Little sparkles fluttered to the floor. Even though I knew what was coming, I still stared in amazement as the rock transformed into a colorful train, much sturdier looking than Link's previous one. Anjean lowered her arms and slumped in her chair, looking very spent.

On a sudden whim, I rushed forward and held the map right side up, catching the few remaining sparkles of light. Bending my face forward, I smiled as the tracks engraved into the surface began to glow.


	5. Chapter Five

Before long, we were onboard the Spirit Train, traveling on the few tracks that had reappeared. I was sitting on the edge of the conductor platform, swinging my legs in the air and holding the partially re-energized rail map in my lap.

"That was really cool how Anjean's power made some tracks come back!" Link said over the wind, both hands glued to the gearshift lever things.

"Yeah, I hope it was enough to get us to Gage! According to this he should be- Oh! Turn left!" I told him. Link switched paths, and the train leaned sharply to the left before leveling out again.

"Sorry," I carefully stood up and moved beside him while we were on a relatively straight path. "So, see how there's a weird little station marked 'forest sanctuary'? On the other side of that forest?" I propped the map up on the control panel thing so he could see.

"Uh-huh," Link said, concentrating on the road between glances.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Gage is there, so we should head that way."

"How much do you know of our story?" Zelda's voice sliced through the wind. She was flying beside us, and doing a good job of keeping up with the train. "Do you know whether the demon king will prevail?"

"Oh, no. Don't worry, the evil never prevails." I told her. "The heroes always win in the end!"

"I think I see the forest!" Link pointed at the dark smudge of trees up ahead. Zelda landed in the car and peered over Link's shoulder at the map.

"Hmm. The Lost Woods." She read aloud. The light dimmed as we entered the thick forest; the trees blocked out the sunshine. "Are we sure this is the right way?" A large spider-like creature lowered itself down on a web in the trees behind her. I cringed as we passed by.

"Yes, this is the right way." There was some trick to the Lost Woods, but I was having trouble remembering this part in the story. "I think… the trees show the way."

"The trees?" Link stared at the vegetation flying past us. "They all look the same."

"No, some are different." Zelda said, floating higher in the air. "There are some with large branches pointing to a different path than the rest."

Yes, that was it! The trees!

"I think I see." Link said, a look of determination coming over his face. "We need to follow the different trees to find the way through."

Making our way through the dark woods was easy with this new information, and before long we made it into a small clearing. Link pulled into the small station, we all jumped out.

"Hey, look at all those statues!" Zelda flew ahead of us, through a bunch of bright blue butterflies hovering over the overgrown grass. Placed a few feet away from each other was a ring of statues in a semi-circle around a sealed doorway in the rock wall. All the statues had faces, but not all of them were facing the same directions.

"What do you think these are for, Mia?" Link wandered over to the rock wall.

"I think they're used to open the door." I joined him and knocked on the rocks a few times.

"Guys! Look at this!" Zelda was hovering in front of a sign of some sort on the wall. Closer inspection revealed it was a picture of the statues with writing along the bottom.

" 'Draw a line between the two statues whose gazes meet'." Link read, then turned and regarded the real statues, easily picking out the only ones that were facing each other. "So...those two."

"The instructions say to draw a line between them, right?" Zelda hovered over a stick on the ground. "Try this!"

Link took the stick, and dragged a line in the dirt from one statue to the other. We all jumped as there was a muffled boom and the door slid downwards, into the earth and out of sight. A soft, flickering glow shone from the revealed chamber.

In the center of the cave sat a Lokomo in another chair with wheels. He was short and had a large amount of hair, which was big and green.

"Hello, we're looking for the sage of the forest. Are you Gage?" Zelda asked.

"Welcome! Welcome! Yes, I am Gage. And you must be the youngsters trying to restore the Spirit Tracks!" The Lokomo extended his arms in greeting, speaking in a loud voice. "In order to restore the tracks that will get you to the temple, we must perform a duet together using the sacred Lokomo instruments."

 _This is the part with the music!_ I remembered. The music was one of the reasons I loved this story so much. When the music played, I had felt as if I were in the middle of the story.

Gage rolled over to a wall, retrieved the cello-type thing that was lying there, and rolled back.

"You! Young lad in green! You have the Spirit Flute, do you not?"

"Yes, I do." Link rummaged around in his tunic and produced the flute Zelda had given him.

"Excellent! Now then, shall we began?" Gage positioned his cello in front of himself and grasped the bow, looking at Link expectantly.

"Y-you mean right now?" Link gulped.

"Wait a second," Zelda interjected. "Are you saying that my flute is a sacred Lokomo instrument? Why didn't I know anything about this?"

"Did Anjean not tell you about how she entrusted the Spirit Flute to your ancestors?" Gage arched a bushy eyebrow.

"No..."

"You should ask her sometime," Gage chuckled, then cleared his throat. "Now, where were we? Ah yes! Restoring the maps' energy. Come now, my lad. I'll began by teaching you how to play."

Link nervously walked forwards, clutching the flute tightly in both hands.

"Good luck Link!" Zelda smiled, coming over beside me. "You know," She murmured as Link and Gage began to practice. "It really should be me playing that flute."

"He'll do good!" I reassured her. _He'll do beautifully._

"Fine, fine. Now it goes me, you, me, you. In that order, so don't you mess up, you hear? And don't be confused by my part. Ready?" Gage played a few notes that echoed around the chamber and sound deep, rich, and...green. It reminded me of the forest; in my mind I could see trees and leaves and curling vines. Then Link joined in, and his flute blended with the cello perfectly. It was over much too soon. I opened my eyes and saw Gage putting his cello back against the wall.

"Wow." Zelda breathed. "That was amazing, Link! You're a natural!" I nodded enthusiastically, shivers running down my arms.

"Well done, m'boy. The tracks to the temple have been restored!" Gage pointed at the map I was still holding. Sure enough, more tracks were lighting up and glowing.

"Thank you so much Gage!" Zelda said. "Now we can get to the temple! Let's go, you guys!"

"Take care! The forest temple can be a very dangerous place!" Gage called after us.

"Are you okay Mia? You've been really quiet." Link asked, peering over at me.

"Just thinking." I told him. I was standing with my face to the wind, my hair blowing out behind me as I took in the sight of the land passing by, much more beautiful than anything I had ever seen in my life. Although I knew were were heading into some dangerous situations, and things had already happened that made me afraid, I didn't want this dream to be over.

"Look! The temple!" Zelda shouted as we neared a giant tree with thick, gnarly branches that reached high into the sky. At its base was what looked like the temple alright, and we were heading for the entrance. "Remember what Gage said," Zelda reminded. "Be careful, because the forest temple is dangerous."

"It's only the first temple." Link grinned as we drove inside. "How bad can it be?"

We left the train, and began walking through the damp, eerily silent dungeon, eventually discovering a tall staircase. "This must lead outside." Zelda said as we climbed the stairs. "I can feel air moving." She was right. We stepped onto a platform at the very top of the tree, where the wind was whistled through massive, leafy branches that surrounded us. All of the sudden, the door at the top of the stairs slammed shut, leaving us stranded. I tensed, waiting for the monster to appear.

A loud, screeching roar made me jump, and the branches above our heads bent and swayed wildly in a sudden and powerful wind. And then, an enormous horned beetle with plates of armor covering the front of its body was hovering over us. The powerful downstrokes from its wings ripped the leaves from the branches and sent them swirling through the air. As the creature gave another screech, it landed on all four legs with a thud.

It was the creepiest, biggest creature I've ever seen.

"G-go get it with your sword!" Zelda shrieked as the monster charged, attempting to spear us on its horn. I dodged a thick leg as it came inches in front of my face and sunk into the ground, throwing up splinters of wood.

"I can't get to it!" Link hacked at the beetle's leg and face. "The armor's too thick!"

I jumped out of the way of yet another vicious horn thrust and came up a little behind it. Unlike the front, the beetle's back side was free of armor; I could see it's soft, purple insides pulsing behind a protective purple cloud of gas.

"Link!" I screeched. "You need to hit it's backside!"

"Okay!" Link screeched back.

"But be careful, it's surrounded by-" I wasn't looking where I was going and ran into something. "-Poisonous gas." I finished, finding myself lying on my back and staring up at the branch that had knocked me over. "Ow..." I rubbed my forehead and shook my head to get rid of the dizziness.

Then I noticed something hanging on the branch above me. Getting up and standing on my tiptoes, I pulled it off of a small hook and saw a pinwheel of some sort. Wait...a pinwheel…

Excited, I blew into one end, causing a rush of wind to come out of the other end. I didn't remember a pinwheel in the story, but maybe it could still be used. "Link! Use this!" I ran closer and tossed him the pinwheel. "Maybe you use it to get rid of the gas!"

"Gotcha!" Link dashed to the left, and behind the monster.

"H-hurry!" I stuttered as the beetle reared up on its back legs and spat a bunch of spiky balls that exploded once they hit the floor. Link sent a blast of wind whirling right at the purple cloud, causing the poison to break up and disintegrate into the air. Stunned, the insect wobbled slightly on shaky legs.

"HAAA!" Link threw the pinwheel thing aside and slashed with his sword at the creature's abdomen.

"Screeeeee!" The beetle shrieked in as Link sliced up its insides. Link drew back his sword and plunged it deep into the beetle, all the way up to the hilt. The monster screeched once more, it's limbs spasming violently before exploding, spewing guts and bits of armor all over the place.

"Gross! Oh eww, gross!" I complained wiping yellow gunk off of me as Zelda popped up out of nowhere. She had been hiding in her glowing ball for most of the time, I think.

"I never want to see something that disgusting ever again!" She exclaimed, her voice shaking. "Good job getting rid of it, Link."

"Thanks.." Link coughed tiredly and put his sword away, hanging the pinwheel thing on his belt.

We all turned around as there was a loud rumble and a pillar-type thing rose out of the ground in the middle of the room. There were gears around the base of the pillar that began turning with a clank, and a huge green gem in the shape of an upside down triangle floated down from the sky. The moment it touched the pillar, a white light shone outwards from it, so bright I had to cover my eyes with my arm. The door to the stairs opened, and Link and I raced down them as the light got too bright to stand, Zelda following behind us.

"Look! Something's happening to the tracks!" She exclaimed as we ran up to the train. Pure energy was growing and moving along the tracks, crackling and sparking as it traveled out of the temple. "Let's follow on the train!"

After we ran back down the stairs, and back through the temple to where Link had parked the train, we got on board and followed the spark of light through the forest. It led us all the way back to the Tower of Spirits, where it surged ahead and crawled up the side of the tower, extending bolts of electricity up into the air. The part of the tower that was floating the closest to the base was drawn by the blue tendrils and landed back on the base with a muffled boom.

Now only three parts were floating in the air!


	6. Chapter Six

"Anjean! Anjean! We restored the Forest Temple!" Zelda said happily as we pulled into the tower.

Anjean rolled over to us, holding another rail map. "Well done you three. Thanks to you, the Snow Rail Map has started glowing. New tracks have appeared!"

She handed me the map and I swapped the old one for the new one. "Steem is the next sage to visit, right?"

"That is correct, a Lokomo by the name of Steem," Anjean answered me. "But be careful. The temple is often surrounded by mysterious and fierce snowstorms. I wish you luck!" She waved to us as Link started the train.

The moment we exited the tower, a large group of wild boars surrounded us. The train lurched from side to side as the pigs took turns ramming into us. "I don't think that the train can last much longer!" Link cried.

"Maybe we should stop at the castle and see if Alfonzo can help us with the train." Zelda suggested before shrinking into ball form again.

"Isn't he too hurt to help us?" I asked, holding onto the railing for dear life.

"It's worth a try," Link gritted his teeth and pulled into the Castle Town station. The gang of pigs wandered off, and Zelda circled around Link and I a few times, still in ball form.

"How about Link and I go get Alfonzo, and you wait here, Mia?" She suggested.

"Okay!" I was distracted by the food smells that were drifting from the market area. Wandering in and out of the shops and around different vendors selling various vendors selling various things, I waited for Link and Zelda and Alfonzo. Stopping to inspect some shiny earrings, I was hit by the most amazing smell, one that made my stomach growl. Eagerly pivoting on foot I tracked the smell to a food cart selling something called knish, which the sign described as basically hash browns. The little old lady minding the cart beamed up at me when she saw me eying the steaming potato cakes.

"One for five rupees."

"Oh..." I sighed in disappointment. "I don't have any money."

"Well..." The lady studied me with her hawk-like eyes. "You seem like a nice girl...so if you find my lost kitten, I'll give you two for free."

I squinted at her. "Find your cat?"

"He ran off just moments ago. In that direction. And he usually likes to hide in trees." Hunt for a cat, get something in return. It wasn't like I had anything better to do right then. And I wasn't going to question how I was going to eat something in a dream. They smelled much too delicious.

"Okay," I told the knish lady, heading in the direction she had pointed. To my relief, I only had to walk to the end of the street before I spotted a huge tree at the centre of the square. Squinting at some of the lowest branches, I could just make out a small, quivering ball with fur that stuck in all different directions. Bingo. Skirting around anyone walking around, I trotted up to the tree and stood on tiptoe, reaching up to try to grab the kitten. "Here kitty, kitty." I said softly, trying not to scare it.

"Mrr." The kitted peered at me with huge, yellow eyes and didn't move an inch. Gritting my teeth, I strained upwards as far as I could. My fingers just brushed it's ear before it scooted backwards an inch. "Mrr."

"Come on, kitty..." All of the sudden I felt a presence behind me, and flinched as someone soundlessly reached up and plucked the kitten off the branch, gently lowering it to my level. The back of my neck prickled and I turned, my eyes widening as I took in the long ponytail, the face-covering scarf, and the gauntlet. Byrne. A small trickle of fear turned my spine to ice. _It's just a dream. Can't hurt you._ "C-come to finish me off or something?"

Byrne leaned against the trunk and casually glanced around at the hustling townsfolk, the colorful flower boxes, and the laughing kids who chased each other. "If I had wanted to kill you," He gazed down at me with his dark eyes and held the quivering furball out. "You would have never left that field."

"Really?" I edged closer and warily took the kitten from him, cradling it against my chest. "So...why didn't you?" I asked, and then wondered why I was trying to start a conversation with the one helping resurrect Malladus.

Byrne looked slightly troubled. "You are not Lokomo, and I detect no magic use, yet you seem to possess an ability to dispel the dark power around you, rendering it useless. It appears you are under protection. At least, from me."

"R-really?" I squeaked. So that's what had happened.

"Tell me," Byrne left the trunk of the tree and moved closer, causing me to back away. "How do you manage that?"

"I-I," I stuttered. "I have no idea how that happened."

"Perhaps...you were meant to assist Cole and I instead of the spirits of good. If you were to join forces with us and return the power you stole, we would be able to resurrect Malladus much sooner. He would wipe out all the foolish servants of the spirits and the world would be ours!" Byrne's eyes seemed to be glazing over at the prospect of ultimate power, and I used that opportunity to back away slowly.

"Um…n-no thank you." I mumbled, feeling my hands start to shake. I hadn't realized I was squeezing the kitten until it sank its sharp claws into my arm. I stared at the ground, wondering if Byrne was going to finish me off or something now that I refused to join him. But when I looked back up a few seconds later, he was gone. I stood there for a minute, shivering. Then I hurried back to the knish lady and thrust the cat into her arms, glancing over my shoulder as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up again. Nothing was there that I could see.

"Why dearie, you're looking a bit pale! Are you alright?" I pushed my hair behind my ear and nodded, not looking at her.

"Are these for me?" I asked, pointing at the two knishes on the counter.

"Yes, as I promised. Thank you so much for your help. Now you go on and scat!"

"Thank you." I took a deep breath and smiled shakily, heading back towards the train station.


	7. Chapter Seven

Upon nearing the train, I immediately noticed a new addition set between the engine and passenger car. A canon. And a big one at that. Yay! No more interference from pigs and other enemies! It looked like Alfonzo was putting some final touches on the cannon while Link sat in the shade cast by the train, looking bored and a bit overheated. Zelda was who knows where, probably in spirit-ball form.

"Look Mia, we have a canon now!" Link greeted me, not bothering to stand up. I decided not to mention anything about the Byrne incident.

"Oh, cool!" I hopped off the platform and landed on the tracks beside the train, my feet crunching as I landed on the gravel.

"And...There you go, Link! With this canon, you should be able to break through rocks as well as kill enemies." Alfonzo turned, holding an oily rag in one hand and some sort of wrench-thing in the other. "Oh, hello Mia!"

"So this thing can smash rocks? How does it work?" I asked, pretty sure that Link wouldn't be able to use it while driving. With Zelda indisposed, that would leave…me?

"Oh, it's easy." Alfonzo said. "You just stand on this little platform-" I hoisted myself up on the platform attached to the back of the cannon and grasped the handles on either side. "-Aim where you want to go-" Using the handles, I swiveled the canon from side to side, aiming at imaginary pigs. Or chancellors. "And pull that lever along the side to fire!" Alfonzo finished.

"This is so cool!" I grinned as I grabbed the lever and used it to help lower me back down to the ground. Realizing my mistake too late, I cringed and all three of us jumped as a cannonball was shot somewhere in the direction of the castle, landing somewhere with a muffled boom. Alfonzo and Link both looked over at me.

I grinned nervously as smoke began to slowly spiral into the air where the cannonball had landed. "Alfonzo? Are you coming with us?"

Alfonzo hesitated as Link rushed to start the engine and I climbed back on the canon platform. "I should probably go and explain everything."

Zelda nodded in understanding. "Okay. See you later!"

"Safe travels!" He waved as Link hurriedly started the train.

As we traveled through Hyrule, an icy rain began to fall, turning to flakes of snow as we drove closer to the snow realm. I shivered. "MIA! UP AHEAD! ROCKS!" Zelda's voice came out of nowhere and I nearly jumped out of my rapidly freezing skin. I had been wondering where she was!

"O-oh! Sorry! I guess I was daydreaming." I stood up and pointed the cannon at a large boulder inconveniently sitting in the middle of the tracks. Two cannonballs later, the rock was blasted to pebbles and according to the map, we had officially entered the Snow Realm. Which would explain all the snow, I guess. My teeth chattered and I hugged my knees to my chest. "Are we there yet?" I shivered.

"You're the one with the map," Zelda spoke again.

"Oh yeah," I pulled it out from a convenient little spot I had discovered between the lever and the base of the canon. "Link, do you see a tunnel up ahead? Past that is the Snow Sanctuary."

"The tunnel with the huge, locked gate in front of it?" Link asked.

I stood up and looked around the side of the train at a thick, iron gate blocking the entrance. "Come on, we can totally take it down!"

"Mia, maybe we should go talk to someone around here to see if anyone can open that gate. It's probably locked for a reason." Link said, turning the train to the right and onto a track that led away from the door.

"You're probably right..." I lifted my hand off the cannon ball lever, slightly disappointed. "It's just that...I need to practice firing this thing for when we run into Cole again."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get plenty of practice shooting more pigs or rocks or something." Zelda popped up and sat on the roof of the passenger car. Her see-through hair floated in the wind. I wondered if she felt the cold.

Link blew the train whistle and shifted gears; the train began to slow down.

"Hey Mia, what's the name of this place?" He jumped down from the train and landed waist-deep in a pile of snow. I checked the map and shoved it back underneath the canon before jumping down and landing beside him.

"Anouki village. I think." I heaved myself out of the snow and onto a path that led towards the village. Melting ice slid into my boots and I shuddered. Link struggled free of the persistent snow bank and I wrapped my arms around myself. "Stupid, freezing snow realm," I muttered, brushing snowflakes out of my hair.

"You don't like snow much, do you?" Link matched his steps with mine as I shook my head and hustled towards the nearest igloo-like house, ducking inside.

"AHHH!" I lifted my arm to cover my eyes.

"AHHH!" An Anouki wearing nothing but a towel replied. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE?"

"I'M JUST LOOKING FOR THE MAYOR OR WHATEVER!"

"WELL I'M NOT THE HONCHO! HONCHO'S HOUSE IS THE FANCY PURPLE ONE ON THE HIGHEST PART OF THE VILLAGE!"

"THANK YOU!" I attempted to back out of the doorway but bumped into a table or something. A vase fell on the floor with a cringe-worthy crash. 'WHY ARE WE YELLING?"

"BECAUSE YOU ARE IN MY HOUSE!"

"YOU SHOULD PROBABLY CLOSE THE DOOR NEXT TIME!" I turned and sprinted out the doorway, ramming into Link in my haste to get away. Anouki in a towel. That image will haunt me.

"Mia?" Link squeaked, stumbling backwards and nearly falling.

"My eyes..." I moaned, and started stumbling towards the purple house that hopefully belonged to the honcho. "That was so scary!"

A few Anoukis looked curiously at us and I shuddered.

"Wait!" I screeched to a halt in front of the entrance (also door-less). "You go first! Just in case!"

"Just in case what?" Link blinked.

"Just go!"

"Okay," He cautiously wandered inside and I braced myself for a shriek of horror or something. Not quite wanting to go inside, even though Link hadn't come out screaming, I stood shivering, the tips of my hair freezing into little icicles.

"Aw," I finally muttered and stalked inside just in time to hear an important-looking Anouki finish saying to Link,

"...help with patrol groups." They both turned as I skittered around them and dropped on the floor in front of a crackling fire. "Who are you?" The honcho guy asked as melting snow slid off my hair and made puddles on his floor.

"She's with me." Link said as I sighed happily in the warmth of the fire.

"So I guess ya want the key to the Snow Sanctuary too, huh guy? Er-girl."

"Yes please!"

"Well, as I just finished telling Link-abou here, I may have forgotten where I put it, but I might be able to remember if ya help Link-abou organize my village into patrol groups." Honcho rapidly added.

"What? Really? I don't know how to organize things!" I said worriedly.

"How else are we going to get that key?" Zelda asked me, her voice sounding slightly echo-y, which it did whenever she spoke without being visible. I think I was finally getting used to her speaking out of thin air, because I didn't really get startled that time.

"Hang on a second," I said. "I have an idea!"

"What kind of idea?" Honcho asked.

"How about," I pushed some hair out of my eyes, "You give the key to Link, and he goes to the Snow Sanctuary while I stay here and do the whole patrol thing. That way, you'll get your patrols and we'll not waste any more time!"

"I guess that could work..." Honcho hesitated, then disappeared into the back of his house and came back with a key. He gave it to Link, and we all walked outside.

"Bye Mia!" Link waved and dashed back to the train, his boots throwing clumps of snow up behind him.

"Good luck! The map's underneath the canon!" I called, snuggling into the soft, plushy material on the inside of the jacket the Honcho had given me.

"Ya'd best get started," Honcho told me. "We Anouki are very picky, so it might take a while for ya to find good matches for everybody."

"I'll try my best!"

* * *

"What? Are ya done already?" Honcho looked up from a pot he was stirring as I walked through the doorway. Why didn't anyone close their doors around here?

"Yup!" I handed him a piece of paper I had borrowed from another Anouki and held my breath as he looked my choices over briefly. It was easy for me; I had watched the hero and princess struggle to match the Anouki so many times, and had memorized who belonged with who.

"These look about right."

"Oh good!" I said happily. "Some of them really don't seem to like each other!"

"That's Anouki for you." Honcho chuckled. I heard a train whistle, and perked up.

"Oh! I think Link is back! Thanks for everything!" I waved to the Honcho, jogged out of his house, and down to the train station, where Link was already waiting. "How did it go?" I asked, hopping up on the canon platform.

"Good!" Zelda said. "The tracks to the temple are finally back!"

"Steem wasn't in a very friendly mood though." Link turned briefly to hand me the map as we started driving along the tracks.

"That must have been fun," I chuckled. "See? Nobody like the cold. Turn left, then right."

"Um...okay..." Link looked a little worried as the wind started blowing a little harder and I raised my voice above the sound of swirling snowflakes.

"Hmm...that's weird." I rubbed my eyes. "Haven't we passed that clump of trees before?"

"I can barely tell in this storm!" Link shouted, holding onto his hat.

"What did Steem say about the Snow Temple? That it's surrounded by magical blizzards or something?" Zelda asked, struggling to keep up with us in the wind.

"Oh g-g-great! It's the Lost Woods all over again!" I shivered.

"Guys? Maybe we should see if someone around here can help us." Link said, his eyes narrowed against the flying chips of ice, and began to back the train up. He successfully maneuvered back out of the blizzard and onto the tracks heading parallel to where the temple should be. We didn't have to go far to find someone.

"OH MY GOSH! It's the Spirit Train!" Someone shouted as we breezed by them.

"What!" Link pulled the brake and the train screeched to a halt with a very unpleasant noise. We slowly backed up, stopping beside a blue-haired guy holding a camera.

"Hello...we're trying to get to the Snow Temple, but there seems to be a blizzard blocking the way. Do...you have any suggestions?" Link asked.

"OH EM GEE! You stopped! When I first saw you, I was all like, 'HOLY COW, it's THE Spirit Train!" The guy stopped whipping his head back and forth excitedly to focus on Link. "Say, you're that guy who just became an engineer. Link, was it?"

Link nodded slowly.

"I'm Ferrus. When it comes to trains, I'm kind of an expert. You know, everyone else is too spooked to take their trains anywhere right now. You just GOTTA tell me where you're headed!"

"Well, we were trying to get to the Snow Temp-"

"REALLY?" Ferrus gasped, interrupting Link yet again. "You're heading to the Snow Temple? How convenient for you, I have an old map of the tracks around that area. Here, you can have it!"

"T-thanks…?" I inched towards him to grab the map.

"Wait! Can I PLEEEEASE take your picture?"

"Our picture?" Link asked.

"Yeah, your picture! It's not everyday I see someone come by riding on THE SPIRIT TRAIN!"

"Um, okay..."

"Alright then! Say: 'Locomotive'!" Ferrus pressed the shutter button, and the camera clicked, the flash intensified by the snow.

"Ow..." Link rubbed his eyes.

"See you SOON!" Ferrus said as we prepared to take off.

"What? Why?" I blinked in alarm.

"So I can give you these PICTURES when they DEVELOP!"

* * *

"That guy was pretty excited!" I giggled as we finally pulled into the Snow Temple. "At least he gave us a map!"

"I really hope we don't run into him again." Zelda sighed.

Link seemed to find the whole thing pretty funny and just smiled a bit as he walked to the front door and threw it open.

"Augh!" A combined stream of ice and fire swirled towards him and he barely managed to slam the door on time. The skin on his fingers appeared both slightly singed and frozen.

"What was that?" Zelda gasped.

"Maybe the boss," I guessed, cautiously opening the door a crack. What I saw looked far from menacing. "Aww, it's cute!" Opening the door wider, I walked to the center of the room where a small, grey, fox-like creature sat, it's thick fluffy tail curled over its feet.

"No! Don't!" Link squeaked as I crouched down to pet its soft fur. It looked up at me curiously and licked my finger with a sandpaper tongue.

"I don't think this thing is the boss, Link. Look how cute it is!" Link stepped a few feet into the room. Immediately, the animal hissed and started to expand, growing larger and larger like a balloon. "Aah!" I scrambled away as it spewed lava and ice at Link, who ran out the door again. As soon as Link left, the thing deflated and calmly walked back over to me, rubbing its head against my knee.

"Maybe it doesn't like Link because he has a sword," Zelda said from the doorway, her voice shaking a bit.

"Aww, do we really have to kill it?" I asked sadly.

"Of course! A boss is a boss..." Zelda said, though she sounded a little hesitant.

"Aww." I whined, and turned away, not wanting to watch as Link quickly advanced on it with his sword before it could spit any more fire or ice. I remembered the snow temple guardian being a lot more scary and big than that. This thing didn't look evil at all.

When it was all over, I said sadly walked over to where Zelda and Link were standing together in front of the pillar rising through the middle of the floor. Another inverted triangle, white this time, materialized and floated down to rest on the top of the pillar.

"I didn't even have to use this." Link picked a wooden weapon off the floor.

"A boomerang!"

"Do you realize that we're halfway done now?" Zelda exclaimed excitedly as we walked back to the temple entrance and boarded the train. "There's only two tower pieces left!"

When we emerged into the sunlight again the blizzard seemed to have disappeared and we could see all the way to the Tower of Spirits, where a blue light flashed up the sides and another piece was drawn back to its proper place.

"I hope the next realm isn't so frosty!" Zelda said to me as we started the long journey back towards the tower and towards Anjean.

"So you can feel the cold! I was wondering about that, you know. "


	8. Chapter Eight

After we stopped by the tower to get the next re-energized rail map from Anjean, we headed off towards the next realm, the ocean realm! I was very happy that we would be going somewhere warmer after all that snow!

Chugging our way down the tracks, when we got to the line that separated the neutral area that surrounded the tower from the ocean realm, we found that the bridge connecting the two areas was totaled; planks of wood were floating in the water and piled everywhere, obscuring the tracks. I jumped out before the train came to a complete stop and Zelda and I went over to the bridge to get a closer look.

"That looks pretty bad," Link remarked, walking over to join us.

"At least we're stuck here instead of in the Snow Realm!" I smiled a bit.

"Well if you need to get across that bridge, you're going to have to go back to the Snow Realm..." Somebody said from behind us.

"What! There is no way we're going back to the-" I turned, but stopped ranting when I saw who stood before me. "It's….! It's Linebeck!" I blinked in surprise. I had forgotten he had briefly been mentioned in the story.

"Mia? Do you know him?" Link was staring at Linebeck curiously.

"I do, he... Uh, I mean, I've heard of him." I stammered.

Linebeck smirked in that trademark way of his. "Hey, it's nice to finally meet a fan! I think I have a picture of myself I can give you among the many back at my house. I'll go get it." Linebeck sauntered back the way he had come and disappeared into his small building beside the tracks, returning moments later with a picture of himself and a pen.

"Let's see...to my number one fan...?"

"Mia." I provided.

"Mia. There you go." Linebeck signed his name with a flourish and handed the picture to me. I stared at it, wondering if it would be rude to throw it away once we were out of sight.

"Excuse me Linebeck but we were wondering…" Link cocked his head as Zelda whispered something in his ear. "Well, we need to get this bridge fixed."

"Do I look like I fix bridges?" Linebeck folded his arms. "If you want to get across, you'll have to go to the bridge worker's house in the Snow Realm and bring him back with you."

"What? I thought we were done with the snow!" I said sadly.

"I guess not." Zelda sighed as we all walked reluctantly back to the train.

* * *

On our way back from retrieving the Bridge Worker (which was a very long journey filled with a lot more snow than I thought was necessary) we were flagged down by none other than Ferrus. When we stopped to see what he wanted, it was the picture that he had taken of us earlier. It was done developing! Link tucked it up on the dashboard where we could all see it. It was a good picture!

After saying goodbye to Ferrus we made our way back to Linebeck's house and the broken bridge.

"Yeah, I can fix it," The Bridge Worker inspected the pile of twisted wood.

"Great!" Linebeck exclaimed.

"So, combined with the work I did on your house a few weeks ago, I think 5000 rupees should cover the cost nicely." If Linebeck had been drinking something, he would have immediately spit it out.

"Wh-what?" He spluttered, turning white.

"Unless, of course you don't need this bridge fixed," The Bridge Worker suggested.

Linebeck was silent for a moment. Then he brightened, his color returning to normal.

"Well, lucky for me, these two kids have kindly agreed to pay the bill, haven't you kids? Mia and Green Kid?"

"What? Why would we do something like that?" Link gasped.

"Well! I'm glad this bit of unpleasantness is settled. If you need me I'll be in my house. Bye!" And with that, Linebeck made a hasty retreat, dashing away and slamming the door of his house behind him.

"Meh, I don't really care who pays me as long as I get paid," The Bridge Worker lifted a large and scary-looking mallet thing onto his shoulder and walked over to the bridge, leaving the three of us in stunned silence.

"I-I can't believe he just did that…" I said.

"That lousy, cheap..." Zelda looked mad enough to punch someone.

"5000 rupees? How are we going to come up with that?" Link looked horrified.

We all jumped as Linebeck's front door flew open, and Linebeck came back out.

"What do you want now?" Zelda demanded.

"What do you want now?" I demanded for her, since Linebeck couldn't see or hear her.

"Calm down. I only wanted to let you know that I have this great idea of where you can get the money. " Linebeck sighed. I guess he felt bad for pinning such a price on us! "Before he died, my grandfather left me a letter with a map leading to a rare regal ring that is buried somewhere around this station. From what I hear, this regal ring is worth 8000 rupees at least! So if you can follow these instructions and find the ring, we'll all be happier, see?" Linebeck thrust a brown, crinkled envelope at me before I could protest.

"But-"

"Never mind that! Good luck!" Linebeck turned around and scurried back to his house, slamming the door behind us again.

"Why…. why would he make US do this?" Link wondered.

"Let's just find this ring and get out of here." I sighed, grabbing a shovel that was leaning against the side of the house and handing it to Link. Then I unfolded the ancient-looking paper and blew a blanket of dust off of it. Link peered at the map over my shoulder.

"Hey! I think that 'X' is right behind Linebeck's house!" He pointed at the big, red 'X' marked on the map.

"Well, what do you know." I tossed the map over my shoulder as Link ran over to the spot that supposedly held a regal ring and started throwing shovelfuls of dirt over his shoulder.

"Why couldn't have Linebeck done that himself?" Zelda wondered, frowning.

"Guys!" Link slowed his frenzied shoveling and emerged from a shallow hole with a small box in his hand. "I think I found it!"

"That was fast!" I exclaimed, following after his dirt-coated form as he threw open the door and walked right into Linebeck's house.

"There. You have your ring." Link said, dumping the contents of the box on the counter.

"Hey, good job there, squirt! I didn't think you'd actually find it!"

"It was right outside your house you know. Did you even look at the map?"

Linebeck ignored me and picked up the jewel encrusted ring, holding it up to catch the light streaming through the doorway. "This thing is definitely worth 8000 rupees!"

"Oh really?" We all turned as the Bridge Worker sauntered up to us and snatched the ring out of Linebeck's fingers. "Could have fooled me. Well enjoy your bridge." We watched him go in silence.

"I don't know how he's going to get anywhere without a train," I said. Linebeck had bigger problems.

"That ring was worth almost TWICE as much as I owed!"

* * *

We found a note at the Ocean Sanctuary.

"I've gone to visit my sky friends at Papuchia Village -Carben."

"So all the Lokomos have train-related names?" I realized, wondering why I hadn't noticed this before.

"Oh...they do, don't they?" Zelda floated in the air above our heads as the train came to a stop beside Papuchia Village, her hair blowing in the soft sea breeze. "That is kind of strange."

"Man, I wish we could go swimming," Link sighed longingly. A few random villagers walked around, carrying baskets of fish and paying us little attention.

I glanced at him. "Who says we can't?"

Link stared up at me very seriously, then suddenly took off towards the town's small beach. "Race ya!"

I grinned and chased after him down to the surf, gasping in surprise as a whitecap splashed me, totally soaking me from the knees down. Link's hat and boots and tunic were scattered on the sand; I kicked off my own boots, rolled up my pants to my knees and tied my shirt up before diving into the foamy waves after Link. The water felt cool, my hair floated around me, and the salt stung as I opened my eyes, looking around for Link. A hand suddenly grabbed my ankle and I spat out half of my air, even though I should have expected something like that. I whirled around to see Link swimming away, bubbles of laughter streaming behind him.

"I'm so going to get you for that!" I swam after him, my words garbled. Streams of sunlight sliced down through water, illuminating colorful bunches of pink and yellow corals on the seabed. It was incredibly pretty, I had to admit. Schools of fish surrounded me, nibbling softly on my toes and I caught up to Link, poking him in the side. He jerked backwards and then swam upwards, the rest of his air bubbling out all around him. Laughing silently, I kicked my way up to the surface and treaded water while Link recovered.

I grinned as he gasped, his blonde hair plastered to his face.

"Did you see the black fish?" Link finally said.

"Black fish? No. Where?" I spun in circles, but the way the sun was glinting off the waves made it impossible to see anything in the water.

"I'll show you. Come on!" Taking a deep breath of air, Link sunk below the surface. I followed him and he took my arm, leading me down to the clusters of coral I had seen earlier. There we hovered in one spot, trying not to move as three ink black fish swam past us, little white splotches on their wiggling fins.

"That's so cool!" I laughed as we broke above the waves.

"I know!" Link laughed too.

I flipped over and floated on my back, watching seagulls soaring on updrafts and then beating their wings when they couldn't find one. Link mimicked my position and we floated peacefully side by side on the gentle waves. Until Zelda appeared over us.

"How long are we going to hang around here? I found Carben, and he's waiting in the train."

"Nice work, Zelda!" Link started swimming back to the beach. I followed him and grabbed my boots off of the sand before walking back to the train, my clothes feeling heavy and sticking to my skin very annoyingly.

"Maybe that wasn't the best idea…" I mused.

"We'll dry off quickly in the sun!" Link said.

"Carben wants us to take him back to the Ocean Sanctuary to restore the map, so let's get going." Zelda announced, then floated through the wall of the passenger car where a Lokomo supposedly waited.

Link and I climbed back onto the train, and we started travelling back towards the sanctuary…..

"PIRATES!" Zelda shrieked.

"What? Where?" I wobbled to my feet and swiveled the cannon towards the land on our left.

"ON YOUR RIGHT!" Zelda shrieked again as a cannon ball splashed into the water very near us. I whipped the cannon around and found myself aiming at a wicked-looking pirate ship swarming with creatures and sailing straight at us.

"O-oh my gosh!"

"Mia, we have to guard Carben!" Link said as the train stopped to a screech on the tracks. "You stay here and try to destroy their ships! I'll go inside and fight off any pirates that manage to get inside!" He dropped to the ground and cautiously stepped over the rails until he got to the passenger car.

"Okay...I guess...I'll just be out here then," I said, my voice shaking a bit as I fired at the first ship. My aim must be getting better, because the cannon ball flew through the air and smashed through the deck. My next shot tore a massive hole in the hull. "Yeah! Eat lead!" I aimed at the next ship as pirates began leaping off the sinking one, yelling curses and firing arrows came too close for comfort. "Ha! Missed."

The three remaining ships began to turn parallel to the Spirit Train, turning their canons in our direction. But all they got by turning was more cannon shot smashing into their now exposed sides. "Yes!" I fist pumped as all three ships went down, sending waves pulsing outwards in all directions.

"Mia!" I heard Zelda cry.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" I hopped down to the tracks, taking care to not get my foot caught as I walked over to the passenger car, throwing open the door. I froze. Standing at the far end of the car was a huge, hulking troll/pirate thing wielding a massive spiked club. "Oh..."

"...my gosh." Link and I finished together. The monster roared and started to slowly advance towards the white-haired Lokomo cowering behind Link.

"Don't let them get me!" Carben whimpered.

"Yeah...you can...do it Link." I said weakly as Link bravely charged to meet the pirate, his boots crunching on the glass from the windows, which all appeared to be broken. Link rolled out of the way of a vicious club strike, causing the club to become imbedded into the floor. The monster grunted, the gold pirate necklace around its neck swaying as it attempted to pull its weapon out of the floor boards. It appeared to be very stuck. Taking advantage of the pirates' unfortunate dilemma, Link unleashed a flurry of salvage chops on its arms and legs and finally, its chest. The pirate roared and I winced as Link stuck his sword deep into its chest. Moments later, the pirate disintegrated into the familiar purple cloud that I saw when the temple bosses had been defeated.

"Oh, you saved me. You brave lad." Carben stopped cowering in the corner and pulled a normal flute out of nowhere. "I guess we better perform before something else happens, eh? You can drop me off later and continue straight to the Ocean Temple afterwards."

"O...okay..." Link huffed. His face was streaked with sweat. "But...I'm...kind of...tired right now..."

"I'll do it!" I climbed into the car.

"What? No!" Zelda protested as Link handed the flute to me.

"Why not, Zelda? You want to get to the temple, don't you?"

"Yes, but… do you even know how to play?"

"Well no, but I could probably figure it out." I lifted the flute to my mouth, blowing into it and playing a few practice notes. "Hey, this isn't so hard. I don't know what you're so worried about," I said to Zelda.

"Okay, I'll play your part first. When you've learned it, let me know and then we will began."

I waited for him to play his part, and then played along the best I could. Sure I got a bunch of the notes wrong, but it still sounded okay. Sort of. Carben frowned the whole time, but continued playing, as did I. When I finally got through the whole song, and we were finished, I handed the flute back to Link and reached under the seat.

"It worked!" I said, pulling out the map and displaying the glowing tracks.

"..How in the world did that work? That was horrible!" Zelda exclaimed.

"For a complete amateur, you were alright," Carben said reluctantly.

"Thanks!" I beamed.

* * *

"Mind you," Carben shouted up at us as we dropped him off at the sanctuary a few minutes later. "The entrance to the temple is underwater, but the boss' lair is at the very top of that large pillar poking out of the water over there." We looked out towards the ocean, and the pillar standing up way out in the water.

Link frowned. "How are we going to drive underwater?"

"Or breathe. Isn't that kind of impossible?" I asked doubtfully.

"Why do you doubt the Spirits' power?" Carben glared at me.

"S-sorry!" I squeaked.

Carben was silent as we headed towards the ocean, and when I turned back, I could still see him sitting there, watching us.

"Hey, isn't that the entrance?" Zelda pointed at a stone fish, half-submerged in the water near the shore. It's mouth was open, the tracks ahead of us disappearing into the depths. Link slowed down and we all stared at the darkness and into the water.

"I'm kind of doubting the Spirits' power right now," Link said. Secretly, I was too.

"The tracks will protect us," Zelda said, but didn't sound so sure. "That's what Carben said."

"I hope he's right." I looked over the water surrounding us. The pillar that Carben had pointed out caught my eye. I squinted, and could just barely make out steps spiraling upwards, leading straight from the water. "Or we could just…swim over there?"

"You seriously plan to swim?" Zelda said incredulously.

"It doesn't look that far!"

* * *

It was a lot further away than it looked. By the time I hauled myself, dripping, onto the grey stone steps, I was panting slightly.

"I hope you don't get cold." Zelda said, eyeing my sopping clothes.

"Second swim of the day!" I said, wringing out my hair. "Are you okay?" I said to Link, who had just joined us.

"Fine," Link said. "My arm is sore from holding my sword above the water, though."

"Why were you doing that?" I asked.

"So it wouldn't rust!"

"How is Link going to defeat the boss with one good arm?" Zelda sighed, mostly to herself.

We started to climb the stairs and finally reached the top where we were greeted by...a large pool of pinkish-purple goo. A warm, putrid stench filled the air. The ground began to rumble ominously, as did the clouds. With very little warning, something shot upwards out of the pool, landing back down again with a splash that sprayed gunk all over the place, coating the ground.

"What on earth is that!?" Zelda exclaimed as, hidden by a layer of slime, the creature let out a long roar. Link and I backed up, our bare feet squishing disgustingly as four shapes rose out of the pool. They waved menacingly and with a jolt of horror, I realized that they were spike-covered tentacles. I still couldn't see the thing in the middle though, through all that slime.

Link drew his sword.

"Get it Link!" I yelled. And then a thick, rubbery tentacle wrapped around my ankle and scooped me into the air.

"Mia!" Link's eyes went wide and he stood frozen, staring up at me, I think. It was kind of hard to tell from this height. The tentacle tightened its grip and whipped me around so I was hanging upside down. Sharp barbs cut into my skin.

"Link! Behind...you!" I warned, holding onto the monster appendage for dear life. If I fell from this height, the goo on the ground would no longer be just pink and purple, but colored with Mia-splats too. Link turned and slashed at the tentacle with a bunch of chopping motions, and that's when the tentacle holding me decided to start waving back and forth, causing the blood to rush to my head.

"Ahh!" I grimaced as blood began to trickle down my leg from the puncture wounds. Distracted by my cry, Link turned, and the tentacle he had been hacking at grabbed him around the waist and hauled him up into the sky. Link gasped as he felt the sting of spikes and dropped his sword; it clattered down to the ground far below. My head began to spin and the last thing I saw before blacking out was a mouthful of teeth emerge from the slime pit below.

* * *

Link pulled and strained against the sharp tentacle, the thorns on it cutting his hands. He looked over at Mia, who was hanging upside down, her eyes shut, her face white, and struggled harder.

He cried out as he was squeezed harder and curled inwards towards the gaping jaws that had just rising out of the goo. An enormous yellow eye blinked up at him.

"Link!" Zelda flew up to him, for the first time in all the boss fights. "Listen to me! It's eye is the only place not covered by spikes! Can't you do anything about it?"

Link gasped for breath. "I dropped my sword!" He grasped seemingly in vain at the arm, painfully squeezing his ribs. As he did, a long, sharp spike broke off. He almost dropped it, but gritted his teeth and held it tightly in his bleeding hand. A desperate plan took place in his head. He waited until he and Mia were lowered closer and closer to the reeking pool and those needle-sharp teeth. When he was too scared to wait any longer, Link drew back his arm and threw the spike straight into the eye like a spear. The creature roared and tossed Link and Mia into the air.

Link rolled when he hit the ground and, fighting nausea, took up his sword and slashed at the enormous eyeball with all his remaining strength. The monster shrieked, bloodcurdling screams that made Link's spine turn to ice. Blood slid down the handle of his blade and made it slippery. Link's hands fumbled as he lifted his sword, pointing downwards, into the air and, with Zelda yelling encouragement the whole time, brought it down in a killing blow.


	9. Chapter Nine

This time when I woke up I was lying on the ground, and instead of an old guy, Link and Zelda were staring down at me.

"Mia!" Link looked relieved when my eyes blinked open. "See? I told you she wasn't dead," He said to Zelda, his complexion slowly turning from white back to normal.

I coughed. "It only got me by my ankle."

"Well, you also were dropped on your head." Zelda added. I felt the back of my head and winced when I found a bump.

"That would explain the dent." I blinked, noticing for the first time that we were back at the Tower of Spirits. Without the Spirit Train. "Did you bring us back somehow, Anjean?" I asked the sage, who was sitting quietly off to the side. She nodded, but offered no further info, so Zelda launched into an explanation.

"Link fainted after he killed the monster, so I flew really fast to the tower to tell Anjean and she warped you guys back here."

"I didn't faint!" Link protested, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Wow. I'm impressed! Thank you Zelda!" I pushed myself up and winced as my muscles seized. The slime from the monster earlier had dried on my skin and clothes. I noticed Link peer down at his clothes which were variously stained with monster goo, sea salt, and blood.

"We can't possibly go to the next temple tonight." Zelda said.

"You are right, seeing as it's nearly dark, m'dear." Anjean said.

"Wait a minute, you said earlier that you were using all your power to keep Malladus locked up," Link said slowly. "How did you warp us back here?"

Anjean gestured at the three glowing maps and one glow-less one hanging on the wall. "Each temple you've restored has brought a piece of the tower back, as you know. As the energy returns, little by little, so does my strength. You have done well to come this far."

I cringed as Link picked a chunk of something rubbery-looking out of his hair. "Is there a bath around here?" I asked.

"There is a hot spring a little ways away from the tower." Anjean offered, pointing at one of the four doors that led to the four realms. "But I would like you to remain here, m'dear." She said to Zelda. "There are things we need to discuss."

"But-" Zelda started to protest, then fell silent when Anjean fixed her with a stern stare. "Okay."

* * *

Beyond the evil swirly cloud that overlaid the tower, millions of stars were hanging in the midnight blue sky, glittering like little diamonds.

"You seem like you've never seen stars before!" Link said, noticing me staring at the stars as we trudged towards the hot spring, holding spare clothes and soap Anjean was kind enough to lend to us.

"I have seen stars, but not like this."

"Oh." Link held a branch out of my way as we moved through the circle of trees that enclosed the pretty little pool. Quickly, I slipped off my boots and wading into the wonderfully warm water with all my clothes on. I hung the clean clothes on a tree branch hanging over the water.

"So where are you from anyways?" Link asked, leaving his boots beside mine. Steam spiraled all around us. A sweet, piney smell hovered in the air as I waded in up to my neck and quickly shed my disgustingly stiff clothes, removing the bar of soap from my pocket.

"It's...a far away place. It would be hard to understand." I tried to explain, breaking the soap into two pieces and tossing half to him.

"Is it outside of Hyrule?" Link said.

"Kind of..." I started to reply, then noticed small traces of red in the cloudy water around his chest.

"Hey...are you hurt?" I demanded, noticing his one arm wrapped around his chest.

"Not really...it's just a scratch." He mumbled as more blood trickled into the water.

"O-oh my gosh!" I squeaked. "Why didn't you tell someone?"

Link winced. "Really, it's okay."

"No, it's not. It could get infected or something." I argued. "You have to let me wrap that up!"

After ducking behind a rock to put on Anjean's clothes (which were a perfect fit!) I was kneeling over Link and trying not to throw up as I probed along his gash wound with my fingers. I could see a broken-off piece of spike deep in there, green liquid seeping out of it and mingling with the blood. How Zelda and I didn't notice this before was beyond me. Link's breathing quickened, and he tensed in anticipation of pain.

"It...it's okay." I looked up at him and he looked back, his eyes wide. Carefully, I grasped the sticky end of the thorn. Link squeezed his eyes shut as I wiggled the spike tip loose and struggled to pull it out, my fingers becoming slippery with warm blood. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and extracted the thick, oozing thing.

"You should probably wash it again tomorrow, just to keep it clean. " I stood up, holding out my hand. Link took it and hauled himself up. For the first time since getting out of the hot springs, I felt the chill of the night air through my thin sweater. "You must be freezing without a shirt!" I exclaimed.

"A little," He admitted, and picked up the dry shirt Anjean had given him as I gathered up both of our wet clothes and hung them on various tree branches to let them dry overnight. "Thank you for getting that spike out of there."

"Don't mention it." I replied, still feeling a little sick as we walked back towards the tower in the dark, the only light illuminating our path coming from the stars.

"What took you so long?" Zelda demanded as we slipped in between the giant doors of the tower. She was hovering beside the Spirit Train which seemed to have been warped as well. If Anjean looked tired before, she looked near to fainting now.

"Nothing." Link said. Zelda looked at him.

"Are you okay Link?" She demanded. "And what's that on your chest?"

Anjean wheeled over on her wheeled chair and frowned at Link's chest wound, which was beginning to scab over.

"Hmm. It doesn't look fatal. Was that in there?" She pointed at the spike, which I let drop on the floor upon realizing that ooze was getting all over my hand.

"Yup." Link said. "Mia pulled it out."

"You were right to remove it. If it had remained in the wound, it may have caused an infection." Anjean analyzed. I would have said 'told ya' to Link if I hadn't been so sleepy.

"So...should we sleep here tonight?" Link asked. "The train seats are comfy enough in the passenger car."

"Yes. You youngsters should get some rest." Anjean said, wheeling around the room and blowing out candles as she went. I would have objected to being called a youngster, but again, I was tremendously sleepy. And plus, everybody is probably a youngster to her.

* * *

I had some weird dreams that night.

I was standing in a strange room that looked misty and grey. The ground had water on it, like I was standing in a shallow pool. There was a single palm tree a few feet away. And a figure, who stalked towards me and turned out to be Byrne. Without his gauntlet.

"W-what do you want!?" I felt scared. He was so tall and intimidating.

"You should have been killed at the Ocean Temple. And yet you were not. I watched you. I watched that creature deliver what was intended to be a fatal blow, and yet you were spared."

"Why does it matter to you?" I shot back. "Why didn't you finish me off yourself if you wanted me dead so badly?"

"It appears the power you stole has granted you protection." Byrne half turned, and I could see his well-muscled profile in the mist. "But this...theory requires verification."

"What does that mean?" I muttered.

"I have heard stories...of the one granted protection and fated to have a great destiny..." He said again, his voice turning faint. "But it cannot be you... you are just... a child..."

"What?" I finally said, as his voice faded and my surroundings turned into blackness.

"Mia!"

A beam of sunlight hit me straight in the eyes when I opened them.

"Just how long were you planning to lie there like a blob of Chu Chu jelly? We're all ready to go!" Zelda said.

"I brought you your other clothes that dried out," Link said, pointing to the seat across from me.

"Thanks." I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"Here is the re-energized fire rail map," Anjean said cheerfully rolling down the aisle and handing me the final slab of stone.

"Thank you!" I yawned, then stood up.

"The mountain is prone to erupt this time of the year, so be on the lookout for falling rock and debris." She warned.

"Got it!" I smiled, and made my way over to the cannon.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Rocks!" Zelda shouted as we drove up the steep side of Death Mountain.

A smoky haze filled the air, along with my lungs. "It looks like we'll have to go through Goron Village to get to the Fire Sanctuary, Link." I coughed, my eyes watering from the heat as a large, flaming boulder smacked into the ground an arm's length away. This smoky boiling place was almost worse than the cold snow realm!

"I hope we don't get hit by anything," Link said, nervously scanning the sky.

We approached Goron Village, which had a lot of smoke rising from it, I noticed with mild concern.

"A train! Oh goodness! We are saved!" A young Goron spotted us pulling into the station and started hopping from one foot to another. "Fountains of lava have erupted all over, and now block the entrance into our village, goro! You have to help us!"

More Gorons came over, murmuring things.

"I bet something really cold would do the trick."

"Hmm, does something that cold even exist? Certainly not in this realm."

"What about the Anoukis? Might they have something you could bring back to us?"

"Oh no, not the snow realm again!" I moaned.

"I-I guess we could check in the snow realm." Link said, and cheers erupted from all around us.

Zelda looked over at me. "How are we going to transport ice?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The Gorons ended up hooking us up to a cargo car, and it took forEVER to get to the snow realm and back.

Later, we were back with a load of ice. The Gorons formed a chain, blocks of ice passing from hand to hand until it was all tossed onto the lava fountains with a hiss. Steam billowed everywhere, and when it cleared, the bubbling lava was no more. The Gorons were now able to go back to their boring cave houses and roam in and out of the village freely!

"Thank you, brothers!" Multiple Gorons said multiple times, which made me giggle.

We got off the train and walked through the village and located a sign that said: 'Fire Sanctuary: Ahead. Altar of the Mountain Goddess: Left'

"Mia, why don't you go find the elder and let him know that the village is safe?" Link said. "We can meet back here later."

"Okay. I guess I could explore a bit!"

I followed the windy trail slightly upwards, going at a pretty steady pace until I took a wrong turn and ended up in a circle-shaped area. A dead end. I grumbled in annoyance and turned to leave, but found my path blocked as someone jumped down out of nowhere in a blur of black.

"Ahh!" I shouted in surprise as Byrne slowly stood, his hand gauntlet-free... like in my dream!

"I told you I'd see you soon," Byrne said, as if it that made jumping out of nowhere justifiable. He came forwards. "Didn't I?"

"You...you said that in my dream," I stuttered, moving backwards as he advanced.

"Use your power and attack me." He demanded.

"W-what? I don't want to attack you."

"Do it!" He growled.

My pulse thundered and I shut my eyes, digging my fingernails into my palm.

Maybe… maybe if I could figure out how to control the freaky power to use it against him, maybe I could make him go away. Make him leave me alone.

Suddenly, Byrne's calloused hand clamped around my throat, breaking my thoughts. What was he doing?! Was he trying to kill me?! My eyes flew open as he squeezed hard, his fingers encircling my neck almost completely. I struggled. Byrne leaned close, his nose almost touching mine, the blackness in his eyes going even darker.

"I...I can't." I said lamely. "I don't know how."

"You're not trying," He said, stepping on my toes. Pressure built behind my eyes and in my face. My lungs strained. I pulled at his hand. I slapped. I kicked. I punched at his arms and chest, unable to reach his head. But it didn't matter. None of it mattered. Going up against Byrne was like trying to beat up a tree. My chest burned. Couldn't...breathe...

My arms went limp and he released me with a shove. I stumbled backwards in disbelief, sucking the smoky, muggy air into my oxygen-deprived lungs.

'You're crazy!" My arms went up protectively over my face.

"Fight me." He moved too quickly for me to defend myself. A boot to the back of my knee sent me crumbling to the ground.

"I t-thought you weren't going to try to kill me," I forced out through my sore throat.

Byrne narrowed his eyes, telling me with a look exactly how much damage he could do. The gleam in his dark eyes scared me enough that I stepped forward and curled my hand into a fist, hoping that I could draw this out until Link or someone came looking for me. Byrne raised his arm in response. "No. Attack me...with the power you have stolen."

"W-what? I don't know how." I was so confused. "I don't know how to use that power, and I didn't mean to steal it! Why won't you just leave me alone?"

I was about to scream for Link when Byrne moved in a blur, so fast I didn't have time to tense before he had spun me around and shoved me against the far wall, one arm twisted behind my back. The side of my face scraped against the rock and shock stole my breath.

I was trapped completely. A sick feeling rolled over my stomach as Byrne chuckled softly. "Completely helpless. Poor little human." He sounded amused, and reared back his fist, which started crackling with dark energy. "Time to die."

My fear turned to panic, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Suddenly, I was released; I turned to see Byrne shoved back with a surge of purple. I stared at my hand, where that strange blue symbol was glowing again. Byrne got to his feet and stood very still, his eyes boring into mine, intense, but somehow calm and confident.

"As I thought. It appears the only way the power stirs is when you are in grave danger. And even then...it's not the sacred power, but something...something else."

I just stood there, staring at him, scared and shocked. "What… what do you mean?"

"It appears the divine entities wish no harm to come to you, for you are under divine protection." Byrne began backing away, his gaze lingering before he turned and walked away, disappearing down the path. "To get into the temple, you must gather the three keys from the birds."

"So now you're helping us now? Whose side are you on?" I demanded. After taking a moment to recover, I got up and began walking down the path after him. Moments later I collided with a big grey Goron.

"Hello there! And who might you be?" He asked kindly.

"Did you see anybody….." I hesitated. "Never mind. Are you the village elder? I was supposed to tell you that the village can now be accessed again." I said. The Goron laughed merrily, the already noticeable smile lines becoming quite pronounced.

"So the Goddess has heard my prayers! Thank you, my child. I was beginning to lose hope." I smiled and walked back to the village with him, where Link and Zelda were waiting. Link smiled upon seeing me, and I managed to smile back, although I was still slightly in shock from the whole Byrne encounter.

How was he able to disappear so quickly without anybody else noticing him?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"So, apparently to get into the temple we have to get three keys from some birds that should be flying around here." Link tole me when they returned from the fire sanctuary and we were all back on the train and out of the village.

"I wonder how to get the keys from them?" I said as the first bird flew towards us.

"Do you still have that pinwheel thing? Maybe you could use it to make the bird drop the key, and then use your boomerang to get it." Zelda suggested. "Mia, why don't you switch from canon to pinwheel for a while?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It worked!

We used the keys to open a weird door at the fire temple with three keyholes in it. For some reason, the air felt significantly warmer inside the temple than outside. The cause of this, I discovered as we walked inside, was an innocent, bubbling lava pit.

"That look pretty dangerous…" I remarked.

"Look at that mine cart over there," Zelda pointed. "And those tracks!" Strangely enough, a mine car was sitting on tracks that corkscrewed upwards and circled the pit, tracks that were supported on stilts of metal.

"Cool!" Link trotted over to the rusty car and pulled out a bow and a quiver of arrows. I guess the weapons had been rigged or something, because there was a rumbling noise and a rock monster ascended from the pool. It glared at Link and I with its one eyeball. I stared as it bent down and roared in our faces, causing our hair to blow back behind us. After it was done venting, it leaned back and flaunted a bunch of yellow spots that were placed randomly around its body.

"Hey Link! Try using that bow and arrows!" I suggested.

A giant rock fist smashed into the ground, right where I was standing. Or rather, had been standing until Link had thrown himself at me and pushed me out of the way. We landed in the mine cart, which decided to start moving due to unknown forces.

"At least you're not staying in one spot" Zelda shouted up to us as we were carried further and further up the rickety tracks. "That would just give him an easier target!"

I raised my head slowly above the edge of the wobbly car. "Eeek!" I shrieked as the Cyclops's eye glared down at me. "Link! Get him!" A little awkwardly, Link nocked an arrow and aimed at the monster's eye, but missed and hit him in one of the yellow areas instead.

"That works too!" Zelda said as the cyclops gave a shriek and swatted at the cart with one of his bulky hands. I ducked, but Link was a little slow. Consequently, he got knocked out, and fell on the ground, but luckily not in the lava. I was now left alone with the bow and a few arrows.

"Link! I don't know what to do!" I cried.

"Shoot those yellow areas!" Link panted.

"O-okay..!" I delicately picked the bow up and attempted to shoot an arrow. It missed. After a few more practice times, I was able to get the whole aiming thing down, and I shot a bunch of arrows at the cyclops, actually hitting the yellow spots once in awhile. When I had managed to hit all of them, the cyclops stopped tormenting Link and faced me again; I cringed at his giant eyeball.

"Hit him in the eye!" Zelda hollered.

"C'mon Mia! You can do it!" Link shouted, unsheathing his sword. Taking the last arrow, I notched it and let it go straight into that disgusting eyeball. Blinded by the arrow, the cyclops gave a bellow and slammed face first into the ground.

"Yeah! Go Link!" I cheered, getting slightly nauseous from riding around in circles as Link went into the whole hacking final blow routine with his sword. When it was done, the monster dramatically sunk back into the pool of lava. Link wiped the sweat off his forehead. Zelda flew circles around him and beamed. The inverted triangle of power pillar rose out of the centre of the lava, and when the mine cart came to a stop back at the bottom of the track, I got out and joined Link and Zelda at the pillar.


	10. Chapter Ten

"This is it! Oh my gosh, you guys! This is it!" Zelda flew in erratic zigzags. "I'm finally about to get my body back!"

The Tower of Spirits now being fully intact, Anjean had sent us to go confront Cole and Malladus, hopefully getting Zelda's body back in the process before the demons used it to destroy the world. Unfortunately, this required climbing lots of stairs.

"What did Anjean say about 'guardians' or something?" Zelda asked Link when we got the top of the stairs and discovered a door.

"Oh, the guardians of the tower. They're supposed to protect this place, right?" Link turned the silver handle on the door, once we had caught our breath and prepared ourselves for whatever might lie ahead.

"Maybe the guardians can help us get through the tower?" I suggested as we infiltrated the maze-esque room and began to walk through. A whole lot of different paths led away from us in a whole lot of different directions.

"EEEK!" Zelda suddenly screamed, pointing at a metal-armored phantom that was patrolling the passageways. At the sound of Zelda's scream, it turned, caught sight of us, and lifted its massive, double-edged sword menacingly.

Link and I took off running; the phantom's armor clanked as it followed in pursuit.

"So much for the guardians being helpful!" I shouted to Link as we ran.

"What...what is that thing?" Link gulped.

I half-turned to answer him, and embarrassingly tripped over my own feet.

"Ung!" I landed on my face. Link tripped over my legs and landed beside me, almost hitting his head on the wall of the narrow passage…..a passage that turned out to be a dead-end. The phantom rounded the corner and lumbered towards us with surprising speed.

"Link! Mia!" I heard Zelda shriek, but my attention was focused on the sharp weapon slowly being raised above my head.

"Link! Mia!" Zelda shouted again, but her voice sounded muffled.

I nervously opened my eyes. "Gah!" I scrambled up against the wall, attempting to get away from the large metal monster towering over us.

...Which now had...glowing, pink eyes?

"Mia! It's me! It's Zelda!" The Phantom said, lowering its sword.

"Z-Zelda?" Link gawked.

"Um...I think I possessed the guardian?" Zelda guessed, examining her metal arms and legs and sword in fascination.

"Whoa….That's so weird….But on second thought would you be able to help us get across that lava?" Link pointed straight down the hallway in front of us, to where the passage finally ended at a bunch of lava pits. Way on the other side, there was a door.

"Oh yeah, I bet I can!" Zelda grinned and pulled Link to his feet with her newly-discovered strength. "This is great!"

I stood up as she clanked her way over to inspect the lava standing in the way of us and the door. Link and I exchanged a perturbed look and followed her.

"Ok, so I'm guessing I can walk through this stuff now?" Zelda dipped her metal toe in and left it for a few seconds while Link and I looked on. "Yup. I don't feel a thing!"

"Well, maybe you can carry us on your shield?" Link suggested. Zelda thought for a minute, then sheathed her sword and pulled the thick metal shield off her back.

"Yeah, okay. Hop on." She said agreeably, holding it above her head. Link climbed up on her back.

"Here, Mia." He extended his hand. I grabbed hold and allowed Link to pull me up beside him. I held on to the edge of the shield tight as Zelda sloshed through the lava and dropped on the other side.

"Well that was fun and scary! Thanks Zelda!" I picked myself off of the floor. "I bet we're close now!" We headed through the next door into a room with a strange, raised, circular platform smack dab in the middle.

"What's this for?" Link asked from behind me as I stepped onto the platform which was encircled by a bunch of tall pillars.

"So you are the ones responsible for rebuilding the tower," Someone said from some unknown place.

I sucked in my breath and tried to run off of the platform but ran into a yellow-ish force field that had appeared in front of my face.

"Mia!" Link ran up and banged on the wall with his fists.

"Link!" I pressed both my hands against the force field. Little tingles shot through my fingers.

"Enough!" Byrne stalked out of the shadows.

"Let her go!" Link shouted, drawing his sword. Byrne regarded him in amusement.

"I admire your audacity, little human, but your efforts to save your friend are in vain. That force field is impenetrable." He said dismissively before turning to me. I gulped.

"W-what do you want this time?"

"There have been...difficulties in the resurrection of Lord Malladus. A lack of power. A lack of power that is inherent in," Zelda, Link, and I waited breathlessly as he paused, "You." Byrne finished.

"Mia!" Link stabbed his sword at the force field. I shrank backwards as Byrne advanced.

"Back on the mountain," I realized. "You were trying to get me to use the power I stole so you could take it back!"

Byrne paused. "Yes. Although I had hoped that you would join us. You could contribute much. But...you...apparently do not see the wisdom of offering yourself willingly."

"Well, it didn't work, so good luck with that!"

"The great demon king will easily draw his power back out of you." Byrne said, hoisting me over his shoulder with no difficulty.

"Let me go!" I pounded on his back with my fists in a panic as he walked through the force field, out the door, and started up a staircase that spiraled up the outside of the tower. Behind us, I saw Link sprint around the barrier, sword extended.

"Mia!" He reached out his hand and almost managed to grab my wrist before Byrne turned and batted him roughly away with his metal hand.

"Link!" I shouted as Byrne broke into a sprint, his dark ponytail streaming behind him as we climbed higher and higher towards an ominous cloud of energy building near the top of the tower. "You won't get away with this!" I yelled, the wind whistling in my ears.

I could see a good-sized chunk of Hyrule from here, the land spreading in all directions all the way to the horizon. It would have been nice to take a moment and admire it if I wasn't, you know, being kidnapped.

"Do not underestimate the power of the Spirits of Evil." Byrne replied as we got to the top of the tower, to where Zelda's body was floating above an altar, streams of creepy-looking...stuff feeding into her body from the great cloud overhead. "I have brought her, Cole!" Byrne lowered me down from his shoulder, immediately wrapping an arm around me to prevent me from running away.

"Ahh." The double-horned demon floated into sight. I resisted the urge to spit. "So I see you didn't kill her after all."

"What does that matter? She holds the final key to Malladus's resurrection!" Byrne stared at Cole.

"Yes, but by NOT killing her, she was able to steal YOUR power, which she somehow TOOK from you, to complicate our plans." Cole pointed out.

"Hey! Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" I glared at him, digging my nails into Byrne's arm, which was wrapped tightly around my chest. Cole squinted at me in a mixture of repulsion and loathing.

"I suppose it does not matter now. All right. Release her, Byrne." Cole ordered and held up his hands. Streaks of dark light sparkled and crackled over his clawed fingers. Byrne let go of me and gave me a shove. I landed on the floor and immediately tried to scramble away, but Cole shot a bolt of electricity, causing me to crumple, writhing in pain. It hurt! Evil power seeped into me, gathering any sacred power I happened to have and pushing it up, out of my hand. A steady stream of energy flowed from me into Zelda's floating body, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was paralyzed.

"Mia!" I heard Link shout faintly. My head jerked back as the prickling sensation intensified and the last of the power was ripped from me in painful ways definitely unnatural.

"Hee hee hee!" Cole cackled as I was left, trembling on the ground. My hand was glowing again, the blue light wavering behind my blurry vision. Zelda's body began to struggle, little mewing sounds escaping her lips. Phantom Zelda and Link raced up to the alter.

"No!" Phantom Zelda shrieked when she saw what was happening. "What are you doing? Give my body back to me!"

"It is too late for that, I'm afraid," Cole snickered as a mysterious dark whirlwind surrounded the stolen vessel, then dispelled quickly, leaving the figure of the princess, head bowed, eyes closed. "Lord Malladus! Your resurrection was successful!"

Zelda opened her eyes, which were now blood-red.

"Noooooo!" Phantom Zelda shrieked in horror. I stood up shakily, then nearly fell.

"Great Lord Malladus!" Byrne rushed forward. "I am the one responsible for your resurrection! Grant me the power that I have wanted!" Zelda/Malladus slowly raised Zelda's arm and Byrne closed his eyes in anticipation. The demon flicked its wrist, and Byrne was suddenly lifted in the air.

"Really, Byrne? You are MUCH too gullible. Why would the Spirit of Evil EVER grant powers to one who once served the Spirits of Light?" Cole grinned, baring his sharp teeth.

"What-what are you saying?" Byrne blinked, the only indication that he was startled by the turn of events.

"I'm saying..." Zelda/Malladus flicked its wrist, causing Byrne to slam backwards mercilessly into one of the pillars. "...That you are no longer useful to us." Cole answered.

Byrne groaned and slumped to the ground, quickly losing consciousness. Then… THEN….the demon train with the creepy face appeared out of nowhere, charging through the sky.

"So long, you fools!" Cole waved mockingly as he and Zelda/Malladus boarded the train.

"No! Bring me back my body!" Zelda rushed to the edge of the tower and shook her fist as the train took off, disappearing into a portal.

"Ungh.." I groaned, going limp. Link's face began to blur, as did my surroundings, and soon I was like Byrne. Unconscious, and feeling half-dead.

* * *

(Link)

Soon after the creepy train had left with Cole and Malladus on board, Mia fainted, and Anjean appeared at the top of the stairs somehow.

After debating what to do, she suggested they bring Byrne back to the train with them. Link thought she must have felt sorry for Byrne. But if it was up to Link, he would have left Byrne there, seeing as he had tried to hurt all of them more than once.

Phantom Zelda grabbed Byrne by the feet and managed to drag him while Link tried to drag Mia as carefully as possible behind them.

"Ooo, that Malladus!" Zelda fumed, picking Byrne up and shoving him into the passenger car, none too gently. "He'll rue the day he picked my body to posses!"

"I am somewhat at a loss as to what we should do..." Anjean murmured.

"We chase him, of course! I'll hold him down, while Link gets him with his sword, right Link?" Zelda said as Link pushed Mia onto one of the seats. "Link?" Zelda said again, sounding strange. "You'll help me get my body back, won't you?"

Link glanced up at her. "Or course! We've come this far, haven't we? But...will my sword be enough to kill him?"

It was Anjean who answered. "I'm afraid not. The only weapon capable of purging Zelda's body of Malladus' spirit is found deep in the Sand Temple in the desert. It is called the bow of light."

"So, all we need to do is get this bow, and we will be able to defeat Malladus?" Zelda asked.

"...Yes..." Anjean hesitated.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"I will travel with you to the desert." Anjean said, then looked over at Link. Link glanced over at the unconscious Byrne, propped up awkwardly a few seats away. "We'd best get going, dearie. I will look over Mia." She said kindly.

"Okay." Link turned away from Mia, glancing over his shoulder again before stepping out of the car.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

To get to the desert, Link and Zelda had to go through the Fire Realm again. Which meant stopping a few times because the train kept overheating!

Once in the Desert Realm, they met the Sage of the desert, Rael, who helped them restore the tracks to the final temple. He also warned that this temple was the most dangerous yet, and the boss was really tough because the temple was made to protect the Bow of Light, and all this other stuff.

To actually GET to the temple, was a whole other problem. Rael explained that they would have to pass three trials. The twisted tunnels, the great eye in the dark, and the impenetrable temple.

The twisted tunnels were pretty confusing, but they made it out, thanks to Zelda, who suggested trying to go through the tricky tunnels backwards.

The eye in the dark turned out to be some sort of giant bug hanging on the ceiling in another tunnel. With one eye. Mia would have freaked out! Since Mia was unconscious, Zelda grudgingly agreed to work the cannon. She said that the only reason she was doing this was because we would never get her body back with a broken train. Despite her great hate for bugs, she had no problem handling the cannon in her Phantom body, and was easily able to shoot the bug in the giant eye a bunch of times.

After they defeated the bug and made it out of the tunnel, they discovered that the Sand Temple was in the shape of a pyramid, with multiple tanks with swivelling guns stationed all around it. As they got closer, a flurry of small cannonballs were shot, throwing up sand as they hit the ground, and almost breaking holes in the train. The rain of iron stopped only when Zelda returned fire while Link directed the train all the way around the temple. When every last tank had been defeated, the bars over the front door lifted, allowing access.

Zelda and Link left Anjean on the train with Mia and Byrne, and charged into the temple, which was full of hazardous quicksand pits. Zelda was pretty nervous, seeing as she would probably sink instantly if she fell into one of them, but managed to pull herself together enough to make it to the boss room. The boss room was full of sand, and the 'really tough' boss was a creepy skeleton thing with cracked armour covering its vertebrae.

So, Zelda ended up pressing herself against the wall and trying not to get in the sand while Link used a hammer he found nearby to whack at the exposed bone until all that was left of the monster was its head. It shrieked and gnashed its needle-sharp teeth as Link whacked the ruby-like weak spot on the back of its head with his sword. The stinging blisters on his hands scraped against the sword hilt, tearing open and Link bit the inside of his cheek to keep from screaming. Tears of pain welled up in his eyes and with his fiercest cry, he finished the demon beast.

"Yeah! You did it, Link!" Zelda cheered from the wall as a gleaming chest appeared in front of them, and Link opened it and lifted the golden bow and quiver out.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Anjean! Anjean! We got the bow of light!" Zelda giggled when they returned to the train.

"Is that so?" Anjean looked up as Link came in behind Zelda, dragging his feet.

"Yes! Now defeating Malladus will be a snap!" Zelda beamed. Link set the bow on a chair and sat down tiredly next to Mia.

"Well, we WOULD be able to defeat Malladus...if we knew where he was," Anjean said. Zelda froze.

"...What? Can't you do something to find him?"

"I'm afraid not, m'dear. Cole and Malladus have hidden the Demon Train so well that I simply cannot find it."

"...Oh..." Zelda looked crestfallen. The passenger car became silent.

"There is...one way to find them..." Byrne spoke, his voice rasping. They all turned to stare at him, surprised, worried and a bit scared to see him awake.

"Yes?" Link narrowed his eyes.

"When I first joined Cole, he made me make a tool called the Compass of Light so we could track down the Demon Train. After we had successfully located it, I hid the compass underneath the altar of the Demon King. It cannot be touched by any evil, so it should still be where I left it."

"Oh. So...if we get this compass..." Zelda was becoming excited again, "...we will be able to find the Demon Train too?"

Byrne nodded.

"To make the alter rise, shoot an arrow from the sacred bow into the twin eyes that stand at the top of the stairs."

"Thank you, Byrne." Anjean said quietly.

"Thank you, Master. And to you too, Princess." Byrne glanced at Zelda. "For sparing my life."

"Alright Link. Let's go get that compass." Zelda finally said. Link hesitated, not wanting to leave Mia and Anjean alone with Byrne now that he was awake. And also, his hands hurt.

"You...you can get it yourself, right?"

Zelda blinked at him in surprise. "I guess. But...you don't want to come with me...?"

"I think I should stay behind with Anjean and Mia."

"I am sure you are most capable of retrieving it yourself, m'dear." Anjean said. Link blinked at her, and she smiled back knowingly, as if she could tell he wanted to make sure they were safe from Byrne.

"Okay...I'll be right back..." Zelda grabbed the bow and clanked out of the car. As soon as she was gone, Mia started to stir.

"Ungh..." She groaned. "I had the weirdest dream. Where Zelda turned into a Phantom and Byrne...did something."

"I'm afraid it wasn't a dream, my dear." Anjean answered her.

"What?" Mia blinked and looked around the car. She froze for a few seconds when she noticed Byrne, then stood up suddenly, staggering over to where he was sitting and throwing a weak punch at his arm. Byrne watched silently as she pummelled him ineffectively. His amusement changed to concern as Mia swayed unsteadily, her knees buckling. Byrne caught her with one hand before she could fall. "Don't...touch me!" She protested, but let him steer her into the seat across the aisle.

"You should rest. Recover. You could have been killed." Byrne said gruffly.

"No thanks to you!" Her eyes sparkled angrily. "You big jerk!"

"Are you okay?" Link asked. Mia looked at him and seemed to calm down a bit.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine. What about you? What happened while I was asleep?"

Anjean and Link took turns filling her in on the desert and the Sand Temple and the Bow and Compass of Light until Zelda returned, with said compass in hand.

"I'm back." She announced, handing the artifact to Anjean.

"Wonderful. Now all we need to do is follow the compass and it should lead us to the Dark Realm." The sage said.

"Dark Realm?" Mia wondered. "What's that?"

"The Dark Realm is where Cole and Malladus have hidden the Demon Train." Byrne answered.

Mia started to say something but changed her mind.

"Why do you cover your face?" She eventually asked. Byrne stared at her, but didn't answer.


	11. Chapter Eleven

I woke up, and found myself sprawled on a seat in the passenger car, experiencing soreness all over. Link was beside me, Anjean was sitting in her wheeled car in the aisle, Zelda was nowhere to be seen. And Byrne. Byrne was sitting at the back of the train car.

As much as it hurt me to do so, I crawled over Link's legs and attempted to attack the sleaze bag, almost falling as my stupid knees gave out on me. Surprisingly, Byrne was the one to catch and direct me into the seat across the aisle.

After I calmed down a bit, Link and Anjean recounted the series of events that had taken place while I was unconscious.

Apparently, they had already gone to the desert to retrieve the sacred bow that would drive Malladus out of Zelda's body. They were now waiting for Zelda to come back with the compass that would lead us to the Demon Train.

"You guys. I am so sorry." I sighed, resting my head in my hands. "It's my fault that Malladus was able to posses Zelda's body. It's the power from me that he took."

"You couldn't exactly help it, Mia," Link said, glaring at Byrne. "It's not your fault that happened to you."

"It will almost be easier to get Zelda's body back while it's inhabited by the Demon King." Anjean tried to cheer me up. "Easier to get a clear shot at him, anyways."

I appreciated their attempts at reassuring me, but still felt pretty awful.

"I'm back!" Phantom Zelda stamped in, and gasped when she saw me awake. "Mia! Are you okay? Here." She handed a gilded compass to Anjean and a golden bow to Link.

"Wonderful." Anjean said. "Now all we have to do is let this compass lead us to the Dark Realm."

"We're going to the Dark Realm now?" I asked, rubbing my swollen hand and patting down my puffy, static-influenced hair the best I could.

"Indeed. The Dark Realm is where Cole and Malladus have hidden the Demon Train." Byrne said. I narrowed my eyes and started to tell him that I _knew_ that already, but changed my mind. He looked half-dead from his encounter with Malladus, and I was guessing he wasn't really supposed to have survived. Now this was really out of character for me, since I don't usually sympathize with the bad guys, but I felt...a little sorry for him.

He watched me warily.

"Why do you cover your face?" I eventually asked. Byrne blinked, as if he wasn't expecting me to talk to him after what he did. And to be honest, I don't know why I was talking to him, but it didn't really matter, because he didn't answer anyway.

"Link, are your hands okay?" Zelda asked.

"Not...really." Link mumbled.

"Let me see. You really need to start telling someone whenever you get hurt." Zelda sighed. I winced when I saw a bunch of red, raw blisters, scattered along inside of his hands. "Is that from the last temple?"

"They...really hurt." Link admitted.

I braced myself to stand up. "So, are we going now?"

"I really don't think you should be in charge of the canon right now." Zelda said, studying my feeble form.

"What?" I said, too weak to put any effort into sounding really outraged. "If Link can drive a train and hold a sword with blister-covered hands, then I can certainly shoot a few cannonballs."

"While standing on a little platform, when you're dizzy and your arms are weak?"

"She is right, Mia." Anjean intervened. "You need to recover." I started to protest.

"You were nearly killed." Byrne said.

"It wouldn't be very good if you fell off the train." Link hurriedly added. "It'll be okay, Mia. I'll get us to the Dark Realm, okay?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The compass lead us through the Forest Realm, like it did in the story every time I had gone through it. I watched in silence as the trees and other scenery flew past as we traveled. I eventually turned to Byrne. "So…Anjean used to be your mentor?" That hadn't been in the story.

"Yes."

"And one day, you decided to... turn evil?" I turned and faced him, leaning my back against the wall.

"I...became an apprentice to Anjean over one hundred years ago." Byrne said. "I wanted to study with her, because I hoped that the spirits would grant me power. But no matter how long I asked, and no matter what I did, they never gave me the power I desired."

"Then Cole found me and lured me into helping him with tales of the mighty Demon King who, once revived, could make us more powerful than the petty Spirits of Good. He granted me a little power just for joining him, a taste of the power to come, he said, and I became much too blinded by the prospect of more power to see through his lies." Byrne said bitterly.

"Huh." I said softly. Anjean rolled over silently to listen to Byrne's story.

"Then Cole informed me of his plan to kidnap the Princess and...er...eliminate certain...obstacles..."

"Me and Link?"

"Yes. But when I attacked you, and you somehow absorbed energy from me and went unharmed, I thought that with powers like these, you might be a valuable ally. So I offered you the chance to join us back in the Castle Town. You refused. At the time, I could not see why. I couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to be the strongest, the most powerful. In the meantime, Cole was becoming nervous. The tower was coming together more quickly than he had anticipated. He sent me to track you three and put a stop to your restoring the temples. However, I noticed that you were unable to use the power you had absorbed, and I realized that it was not _my_ power you had taken, as Cole and I both assumed, but Malladus's power. And that was why it was taking so long for him to return. That is also why, I believe, you were unable to use it. Because you were on the side of the Spirits of good. I entered your dreams, and attempted to clarify my suspicions in the home of the Gorons. It was clear by then that the power was not yours to use and had simply been absorbed by whatever divine protection you are under. That is when I hid in the Tower and waited for you to come to me. I never imagined the treachery Cole was capable of...and how foolish I had been to ever believe him." Byrne finished.

We sat in silence, absorbing his story.

"Malladus has a way of twisting thoughts so that good seems evil, and what is evil seems good." Anjean sighed. "Most become influenced into doing things against one's better judgement."

I was silent, thinking how sad that story was.

And, also, that I had been full of Demon king power. Eww.

"I...I apologize for the harm I have caused, and tried to cause." Byrne said again. I half-smiled. Then my smile disappeared.

"Why _do_ you cover your face? I'm really curious."

Byrne's normal hand slowly slid up to his scarf. "I did it because I had left the Spirits of good. But now...I suppose it's no longer needed." He started to unwrap it, letting the green cloth fall to the floor. With his face no longer veiled, he looked...much less evil. Out of nowhere, images began piecing themselves together in my head.

I got a glimpse of an enthusiastic boy long ago, maybe a little younger than Link, tugging on a much younger Anjean's hand, his small body quivering in excitement. Then a few years older, training with a look of fierce determination in his still-youthful eyes. Then finally, much older than me, and seething in anger and frustration when denied power by the spirits.

I realized that Byrne had placed the images into my head, and I stretched my stiff legs out in front of me, squinting at him in the fading light and wondering why he had shown me.

Wait a minute, fading light?

I turned to look out the window, questions forgotten. Byrne and Anjean followed my gaze. The sky had grown dark, rolling with ugly purple clouds. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Guys! We're nearing a portal! It looks really evil!" Zelda flew and stuck her head in front of Byrne's window briefly. "Come see!" Anjean and I piled over to Byrne's side of the car and all three of us pressed our faces against the windows.

"Wow. So, I suppose that is the entrance to the Dark Realm." I blinked at the frightening sight.

"Yes." Anjean said.

"We're going in!" Zelda shouted from the front of the train.

"Great." My voice cracked a little as the light faded even more. The passenger car grew quite dark and began to vibrate as we entered the Dark Realm.

"It'll be okay." Byrne said, apparently sensing my agitation.

I nervously stared out the window, catching glimpses of strange, dark scenery through the poisonous-looking vapors of mist. The tracks we were traveling on seemed to be floating.

"Don't fret, dearie. If anyone can get us to the Demon Train in one piece, it's Link." Anjean put her hand on my shoulder.

"This is so creepy…" I shuddered.

Link hit the brakes, and we stopped right along side the Demon Train that had suddenly appeared out of the mist and was parked on the tracks beside us. Byrne and I both looked at Anjean.

"So. What next?" I asked as Link and Zelda entered the car and shut the door behind them. Anjean turned to face them and rolled forward.

"I will accompany you from here on out. It is too dangerous for the two of you to go alone."

"No. I will go. It's the least I can do, Master." Byrne interjected.

"I'm coming with you too!" I said.

"What?" Link gasped. "No way! You and Byrne are both too injured!"

"It's just Malladus and Cole." Zelda said. "It'll be a piece of cake! You stay here, Anjean. Link and I will take care of everything."

Anjean stared at her for a moment, then raised her hands. A fancy-looking sword began to materialize in the air.

"As you wish. Take this sword, Link, I believe you were the one meant to use it." Link reached slowly reached out, his fingers hesitating before wrapping around the hilt pulling it from the air. "This is the sacred Lokomo sword. May it serve you well."

"Wow..." Link swung it back and forth a few times, then raised it above his head.

A mysterious breeze ruffled his hat and tunic and hair, and in that pose, he really did look like a hero.

"Take care, you two." Anjean said as they headed back towards the door.

"Link?" I called after them, even though I knew they would win. The hero _always_ won. Link turned back before leaving the car. "Be...be careful, alright?"

"I will!" Link smiled confidently.

"We'll be right back!" Zelda said cheerily.

We sat in silence after they left, watching them climb up the side of the train.

"Her ancestors would have been proud of her." Anjean murmured.

I picked at my hands nervously. The Demon Train decided to start moving away from us. "We can't just sit here and do nothing, Anjean!" I protested.

"And what will you do?" Anjean asked. "You're injured."

"I have business to settle with Cole. The dude tried to kill me! Twice!"

Under normal circumstances, I'm not usually one to hold a grudge. But these weren't exactly normal circumstances.

"And plus. I feel perfectly fine."

I didn't wait for a reply, but grabbed Link's old sword and sheath, pulling it over my head before stomping towards the door, throwing it open, and stepping carefully out onto the rails. I coughed, something in the cursed air making it kind of hard to breathe.

"Amelia. Wait." Byrne appeared at the door of the Spirit Train.

"Go away!" I said, jogging after the train, which was picking up speed, and grabbing onto a railing on the back car with one hand. A wave of dizziness swept over me, but I shook my head to drive it away.

"I am not trying to stop you," Byrne. I grabbed the railing with my other hand as the train started moving too fast for me to run alongside it. Hooking one leg around the ladder that led to the top of the train, I managed to scramble on board, with little grace, but whatever. "I'm coming with you." Byrne said, from beside me, causing me to almost lose my grip.

"You scared me!" I glared, although I was kind of glad to have him with me.

He followed me up the ladder. I peeked over the top of the train.

"Meddling! Meddling! Always the meddling!" Cole was ranting, practically right above my head. I ducked.

"But now! Here is where the infernal meddling stops forever!" Cole's voice had risen to a somewhat hysteric shriek. "Your Majesty!" He cried to the body of the princess, who I had failed to notice. With a quick peek, I saw... _It_ floating above the far end of the train. Zelda and Link were a few feet away, their backs facing me. "Your resurrection is now complete! Please use your power to destroy these two!"

I started to rush forward, but Byrne stopped me.

"Let me go!" I hissed, as he grabbed my ankle.

"No! The time is not right!" He shot back.

I kicked my leg and watched uselessly as Malladus shot a thick magical beam right at Link. To my relief, Zelda whipped her shield off her back and used it to deflect the laser.

She started walking forward, shielding Link, who was holding the Bow of Light and following behind her.

I perked up a little. This was going better than I expected.

Then Cole cackled and unleashed a bunch of...electric...mice. They scurried along the swaying train towards Zelda and Link.

"AUGH! MICE! LINK, SAVE ME!" Zelda shrieked, dropping her shield and covering her head with her hands.

It took a few seconds for Link to figure out what she was talking about, and in that time, one of the mice scampered up Zelda's arm and under a chink in her armor.

Zelda's spine stiffened, and the light in her eyes faded from pink to a dull blue.

"Uhm...Zelda?" Link peered closer at her. Zelda turned slowly to look at him, the hand holding her giant sword tightening around the hilt.

"Go! Now! Right now!" Byrne hissed and gave me a shove onto the roof of the train. I stumbled towards Link.

"Link!"

Link turned. "Mia?"

"Link! Move!" I yelled as Zelda raised her sword. I was still too far away.

"Hee. Hee. Hee!" Cole rubbed his hands together in glee.

"L-L-Liiiinnkkkk..." Zelda groaned woozily. I threw myself forward, grabbing Link around the waist and pushing him out of the way just as Zelda brought her sword down.

"You! How are you still alive?" Cole spat, his eyes glowing as he caught sight of me.

"Amelia!" Byrne yelled. "Cole is controlling Zelda! Cut the ropes attaching her to him to lift the spell!" I jumped to my feet and hauled Link up, pushing the Lokomo sword into his hand.

"You heard him, right? Cut the glowing ropes!" Link nodded, looking visibly shaken, and jumped as Zelda almost hit him again. I awkwardly pulled Link's old sword out of the sheath on my back and pointed it at Cole.

"You honestly think that you, a puny little girl can go up against me, a demon?" He grinned, pulling Zelda's ropes so that she was facing me.

"What...what did you just call me?"

Cole grinned wider.

"I said, you are nothing but a puny little girl, and I am a demon. With the Dark Lord Malladus on my side!" He finished triumphantly. Seething in anger, I drew back my arm and threw Link's sword straight at him. Cole shifted in the air, so that the sword flew past him and disappeared somewhere into the darkness. "Ha! You missed!" He taunted.

"Yes, but I distracted you. And that's all that matters now." I smirked as Link cut the last of the ropes, freed Phantom Zelda, and the two of them starting towards Malladus again.

"What?" Cole watched in disbelief as Link nocked a golden arrow and shot it straight into Malladus, who was just sitting there.

"URK!" The Demon Lord made a choking noise and wrapped his, rather Zelda's, hands around the arrow shaft protruding from his stomach.

Phantom Zelda lumbered up and grabbed Malladus with both arms to prevent him from escaping as streams of light shot from the arrow into Zelda's body.

"RELEASE...ME..." Malladus said in a scary voice.

"No!" Zelda said, tightening her grip as her body began to convulse. "You're not going anywhere!" The Demon Train lurched forward, wheels grinding on the rails. "Link! Mia! You have to get out of here!"

Link and I were thrown to the ground as the train lurched again, smoke beginning to rise from the front.

"Malladus's power over the Dark Realm is weakening!" Byrne called, running towards us. "The train will explode! We need to leave now!"

"Your Majesty..." Cole stared in horror as the Demon King began the process of being driven out of Zelda's body. A bright flash of light sent him flying away in fright.

Byrne grabbed Link and I by our arms and started pulling us towards the edge of the train.

"I have to help Zelda!" Link said, twisting out of Byrne's grasp and running towards Malladus.

"No! Link! Come back!" I yelled after him. "Zelda can't get hurt, but you can!" Link turned and gave me one last glance before turning and disappearing into the smoke. "No!" I protested, struggling as I was towed towards the edge of the train. "Don't let him go!"

"It is too late." Byrne said, wrapping one arm around me and jumping off the train as it began to explode, chunks of metal and gears shooting off the sides and past us as we fell.

"Link!" I yelled as a humongous fireball engulfed the entire train car, the heat slapping me in the face, even as we fell further and further down towards the ground. I buried my head against Byrne's shoulder. "Why didn't you save him?!"

Byrne didn't answer.

The wind blew our hair straight upwards as we plummeted through the purple clouds and emerged into the normal atmosphere again, hundreds of feet above the ground. I took a moment to drink in the clear air. Then I saw how far up we were and clutched at Byrne's arm in fright.

My stomach leaped into my throat and I squeezed my eyes shut as the ground came rushing upwards to meet us.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Although we came close, we didn't die.

No, instead, Byrne waited until we were about fifty feet above the ground before using magic to make us weigh just barely heavier than the air. I opened my eyes as we floated the last few feet and touched safely on the ground.

"Why...why couldn't you have done that when we first jumped off the train? Instead of letting us fall all that way?" I stuttered, my limbs still shaking from the near-death experience.

"Because we were still in the Dark Realm and what little power I still have was useless." Byrne replied, sounding slightly winded. "Additionally, you can let go now." He loosened his grip around me and I numbly pried my fingers off of his arm, which I had been clasping in a death grip.

"Sorry." I mumbled, apologizing for the faint, finger-shaped marks left on his skin. He shook his head dismissively and, without warning, our weight returned back to normal. I crumpled to the ground, my limbs feeling like they were made of lead. Despite the pain, I stared at the ground and made no move to, well move. My head felt fuzzy, my heart heavy.

"Amelia?" Byrne sounded concerned, his voice a little less gruff than usual.

"Link, he..." I couldn't even say it. I didn't even want to think it. "Wait a minute...how do you know my full name?"

"Amelia!" Byrne's tone of voice changed abruptly as he shouted.

I glanced up to see him staring into the sky. "Link?" I breathed, barely daring to hope as I squinted upwards at the small figure falling towards us. "Link!" The figure falling directly above my head got closer, and my smile faded as I attempted to stand, but failed. I wasn't used to my weight yet. Luckily, Byrne caught Link in his freakishly strong arms. "Link!" I used Byrne's arm to pull myself up. "Link..." His hat was gone and his hair was lightly singed. "Link! Wake up!"

"Mia...?" Link stirred, squinting up at me and pushing himself out of Byrne's grip.

"Link! You're okay! thought you were dead!"

"Amelia! Link!" Byrne shouted again. "The princess!"

Link and I both looked up. Zelda, or rather, the body of Zelda was floating slowly down from the sky and hovered a few meters above the ground in front of us. After a few painful-looking convulses, a hideous looking...thing was expelled from her mouth.

We all stared as the Demon King Spirit emitted an unpleasant sound, its facial features twisted into expressions of rage.

"That's...the Demon King?" Link gasped as out of the corner of my eye, I caught something streaking through the sky in our direction. It was the spirit of Zelda, hurtling straight towards her body.

"You're not getting away this time!" She yelled in determination.

"No! Stop!" Cole was running along the ground after her. "That vessel belongs to His Majesty!" Zelda ignored him and closed her eyes, bracing for impact as she neared her floating body and... Instead of reclaiming her body, her spirit went straight through it. "Huh?" Zelda turned around and tried again to enter her body, not succeeding.

"Your Majesty! Now is the time! Reclaim Zelda's body before it is too late!" Cole said frantically to the floating mass of Demon.

"Why isn't this working?" Zelda murmured, not noticing the Demon King spirit speeding towards both her.

"You need to hurry!" I shouted up to her.

"Zelda, look out!" Link yelled, and finally Zelda whirled around. She shrieked and covered her face as Malladus flew straight at her, but slammed into a purple force field cast by Byrne.

"You cannot give up now! Your body has sacred power flowing through its veins! Concentrate on reclaiming it!" He grunted. Holding back the Demon King spirit with his weakened power was clearly a lot harder than it looked.

"Byrne..." Zelda blinked gratefully, then closed her eyes. Her spirit began to glow and sparkle as she merged with her body, the two parts of her finally becoming whole again. Then she shrieked as she began to fall, head over heels through the air.

"Link! Go!" Byrne hissed through teeth gritted with effort as he concentrating on maintaining the forcefield. Link got up and scrambled over to where the princess was falling, and stretched out his arms. She landed on him with a thud.

"Am I...am I back?" Zelda raised her head, examining her gloved hands and turning her arms this way and that. "I AM back! It's really me!" She giggled in delight, turning around and hugging Link.

Above our heads, Byrne's forcefield fizzled away, Byrne crumpled on the ground and gasping for breath. I began to move towards him, as Cole gave a scream of rage. "ARRGH! What about her? She has held your power before!"

"Mia!" Zelda shrieked.

I turned and stared as the evil blue spirit charged towards me. But I couldn't run, I was stuck in place whether by fear or Malladus's magic, I didn't know.

Everything seemed to move into slow motion then. I opened my mouth to scream as Malladus shot a stream of dark energy towards me, and suddenly Byrne was there, shoving me out of the way. Malladus gave a roar, and Byrne was lifted into the air where he struggled, but to no avail. There was no breaking free of Malladus's terrifying power.

"Byrne!" I clasped both my hands over my mouth in horror as Byrne managed to direct his gaze down onto us one last time. Then, the dark magic engulfed his entire body and within moments he was reduced to...nothing. Completely destroyed. All that was left was his scarf, which fluttered to the ground.

"Byrne..." I heard Zelda shriek softly behind me, her voice cracking.

I felt the strange urge to cry and sure enough, tears began to slip down my cheeks. Byrne had saved me, and now he was gone. That...wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't even know how to describe how terrible I felt at that moment.

"Excellent work, your majesty!" Cole giggled, beside himself with morbid joy as the rest of us looked on in horror at the spot where Byrne had disappeared. "But, time is short. Please do away with the two pests and gain control of Zelda's body once again."

The Demon King moved upwards, rising behind Cole until his monstrous eyes were level with the little floating demon. As if he sensed that something was amiss, Cole turned and shrieked in horror as he realized the Demon King had begun to advance on him. "No your majesty! Please! No!" Cole shrieked again as Malladus engulfed him in a whirling blue cyclone of wind that came out of nowhere. When the wind dissipated, Cole was gone and all that was left was a huge, blue, pig-like creature with two very familiar-looking horns on top of his head.

"Did Malladus just posses Cole?" Link gasped. He and Zelda had run up to stand beside me.

"This...spirit is weak." Malladus growled. "His...form is rejecting...me...but..." He reared back on his hind legs. "The world will crumble in the time I have gone!"

"Mia! Link!" Zelda ordered, apparently not one for mourning Byrne while his killer was still an immediate threat. I did notice a faint tear track trailing down her cheek, though. "You two distract Malladus and I'll look for an opportunity to shoot him in the back with the Bow of Light. This is the last battle, so let's make it count!"

"Sounds like a plan." Link nodded and unsheathed his sword. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out the boomerang, which he handed to me.

"Sorry. I guess I lost everything else when Zelda shoved me off of the train." He said.

"It's okay." I said quietly, and wiped my wet face. "But...I don't really know how to use a boomerang."

"Like this." Link took it out of my hand and threw it at Malladus, who had began to spew fireballs in all directions. I caught the boomerang as it came back around and then threw it again. This time it hit Malladus on the horn. The Demon King directed his attention away from Zelda and onto me, which allowed the princess to shoot him with one of her arrows. Malladus roared and collapsed to the ground where Link was waiting with his sword, which the hero used to graphically hack off one of Malladus's horns.

All that was required from me was throwing my boomerang to distract at the demon king, while keeping away from his crushing feet and fiery breath. Zelda stood at a safe distance and let fly her magical arrows of light. Link, with the fierce light of battle in his eyes, attacked whenever Zelda's arrows weakened Malladus enough to make him collapse.

It didn't take long before both horns had been hacked off and Malladus was visibly weakened. As he swayed dizzily and fell to the ground for the final time, Link took his sword and plunged it straight into the ruby on the Demon's forehead. Malladus roared.

"Mia!" Link cried, and I ran up to him.

"Zelda!" I gasped, wrapping my hands around the Lokomo sword, right above Link's. The stink of Demon blood and sweat fouled the air.

"I...I'm coming!" She called, setting down her bow and running towards us. I scooted over a bit, letting her stand beside me. All three of us, with every ounce of remaining strength, shoved the blade deep into the red gem on Malladus' forehead.

Thick blood splashed our face and hands, but still we kept our grip on the hilt. There was silence for a few moments, and then the Demon King roared so loudly my ears rang, and clutched his ruined head in his animal-like hands as rays of light shot outwards from his body, shining from within. A high-pitched shrieking noise penetrated my ears like an alarm. Malladus began to shake, bits of blue stuff bursting off of his very unstable body.

"I...I WILL RETURN! THIS...IS...NOT...THE...END!"

I shielded my face and huddled together with Link and Zelda as the great Demon King was at last defeated.

"It's over." Zelda said, sounding very small. "It's finally over."

Streaks of orange and pink lit up the horizon as the sun began to rise. I absentmindedly tried to wipe the demon blood off of my face as Anjean rolled up out of nowhere.

"I see you have succeeded. Well done." She said tiredly. Zelda turned.

"Oh Anjean...Byrne, he..." She trailed off.

"It is how it was meant to be." Anjean sighed.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and stared at the ground, trying to figure out what the strange, heavy feeling was in the pit of my stomach as I walked over and picked up Byrne's green scarf, holding it in my hands.

"But..." Anjean murmured, then trailed off. I looked up, the tiniest bit of hope flickering within me. "We Lokomos are servants of the spirits. We do not disappear that easily." Anjean finished and lifted her hands. Flecks of purple began to come together over her head, forming a purple ball of light.

"Byrne?" I whispered. The ball of light pulsed, and Anjean nodded. "Byrne!" I laughed happily, as the glowing ball flew towards me. He circled around my neck a few times, then hovered in front of my face. "Thank you." I whispered, tying the scarf around my neck. "Thank you for saving me." A soft purple glow radiated as he lit on my outstretched hand briefly, before joining Anjean as she rose out of her chair and into the air. Where was she going? Was she going to go with Byrne? I hadn't seen this happen in the story.

"The door to your world is about to open m'dear." Anjean said to me, blinking warmly. "You'd better say your goodbyes now."

I turned to Zelda first. Despite having been involved in the slaying of a demon king, she still managed to look like a princess, pretty as ever. Her golden hair looked soft and smooth, her skin barely marred by blood or any other monster residue.

She stared at me, then surprised me by giving me a hug. "I'll miss you, Mia!"

Link walked up and joined the group hug, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Why did I feel like crying again? I never cried so much in real life.

"It was a good adventure." He smiled, and we all let go of each other as I felt myself starting to float into the air, along with all the spirits of the other Lokomo sages from all around Hyrule, who had also become balls of light. Now that the danger had passed, I guess they were returning home, where they could watch over Hyrule from up above.

I felt something in my heart twinge as the ground got further and further away. Tears trickled freely from my eyes, which was silly because it wasn't like I was leaving this story behind forever. I knew it would still be there when I woke up.

"Bye Mia!" Link called, his voice getting all echoey.

"Bye Mia! Bye Anjean!" Zelda waved.

"Goodbye!" I whispered softly as their forms grew faint.

* * *

I opened my eyes with a start, and that I was back exactly where I had started, on the small bed with the tablet beside me. I grabbed it and held it in my hands, staring at the screen. The ending sequence was playing, but instead of how the story normally goes, it was different.

A line of lokomo spirits were soaring into the sky, just like I had seen them. But...there was a figure there, among them. A girl, being raised upwards. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, then looked again. There was no girl or spirits. There was nothing but a blank screen.

"It...it really was just a dream." I said out loud, my voice sounding small. Somehow, it was hard to believe. Although...as I tried my best to conjure images of my adventure, details were fading like they do after waking from a dream. It was quickly starting to seem like things hadn't seemed too real after all.

I rubbed my eyes again, and then noticed something wrapped around my neck. My heart started beating very fast as I stared at it.

Byrne's scarf.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sometimes, adventures aren't really over. Mia's continues in Prisoner of Destiny (previously "Skyward Sword Remix").**


End file.
